The Staros Niarchos Foundation celebrates 30 years of community action in a grand celebration with partners from around the world.
The celebration involves 8 days, 130 hours of programming, 200+ participants, discussions, performances, art, music and a host of other events.
According to a statement:
June and the SNF Nostos 2026 of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) are closer than you think. Here you will find the most important information gathered!
SNF Nostos 2026 is an event open to everyone, taking place on the occasion of the 30 years of charitable action of SNF. It will take place from 21 to 28 June at Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Centre (SNFCC), with parallel events at the three new SNF hospitals under construction in Komotini, Thessaloniki and Sparta.
With the collaboration of our close partners from the non-profit journalism organization iMEdD (incubator for Media Education and Development) and the SNF Nostos Youth Advisory Committee, a group of young people from around the world, we are organizing SNF Nostos 2026 “with a focus on people”. The program includes discussions, performances, art, music, and a host of other events, illuminating different aspects of the human experience.
Focusing on dialogue
The nature of SNF Nostos 2026’s debates is broad, as is the nature of SNF’s philanthropic work, which includes numerous actions in the programmatic areas of art and culture, education, health and sports, and social welfare.
Specifically, the discussions take place from 22 to 26 June as part of the SNF Nostos Conference. During the first four days, representatives of organisations that SNF has supported over the years will take the floor, through a programme that has been developed with them following an open invitation. Choosing from 250 proposals and involving over 200 participants (so far) and 130 hours of programming, these representatives will explore topical issues related to different aspects of their work, and by extension that of the SNF, in the thematic axes: House of Arts & Culture, House of Civics & Education, House of Health & Sports and House of the Future.
The debates culminate on Friday 26 June, with the President of the SNF,Andreas Drakopoulos, hosting, either introducing, moderating or participating as a speaker in the discussions throughout the day.
Personalities from a wide range of sectors have been invited to share their views, ideas and work. Among others (in alphabetical order): Emmy award-winning Noopur Agarwal,physicist Asimina Arvanitaki,NBA champion Giannis Antetokounmpo, the director of MIT’s artificial intelligence lab Rodney Brooks,the actor Michael Chiklis,the comedian John Cleese,the actor Willem Dafoe, Pulitzer Center president Lisa Gibbs, bestselling author Karen Hao, human rights advocate Radwa Hosny, the world’s 2nd all-time pole vaulter Emmanuel “Manolo” Karalis, chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov, composer Giorgos Koumentakis, anti-trafficking activist Sunitha Krishnan, historian Mark Mazower, K-pop star Eric Nam, Oscar-nominated director Nisha Pahuja, actress Maisie Richardson-Sellers, computer scientist Francesca Rossi, former US House of Representatives member John Sarbanes,author Ersi Sotiropoulou,ABY Princess of Jordan Ghida Talal, civic tech activist Rose Njeri Tunguru, writer and actress Nia Vardalos,comedian Katerina Vrana, and many more.
The day also includes a fishbowl-style intergenerational discussion entitled “Does ethics still matter to modern man?” from the ISN Dialogues in collaboration with the Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue at Simon Fraser University, with Anna Kynthia Bousdoucou,co-founder and non-executive head of the iMEdD Steering Committee, executive director of the ISN Dialogues, introducing the discussion.
Focusing on music
SNF Nostos joins forces again this year with Release Athens to bring big names to Greece. On Sunday 21 June, the great David Byrne will appear on the Xefotos stage at the SNFCC with an impressive concert, which will be opened by two bands performing for the first time in Greece: the Nation of Language with a synth-pop sound and Deadletter with art-punk.
On Monday 22 June, also at the SNFCC’s Xefoto, Jean-Michel Jarre will present an impressive audiovisual performance summing up his pioneering career, accompanied by the timeless French pop dandy Sébastien Tellier.
On Thursday 25 June, Gorillaz, Damon Albarn’s groundbreaking project, will perform for the first time in Greece at Nero Square, with supporting acts the legendary Flaming Lips and Jehnny Beth (former frontwoman of Savages).*
More music!: On Friday 26 June, it’s your turn to shine! Grab a friend and sing along with Choir! Choir! Choir! and Good Job Nicky, keeping the positive energy high.
On Saturday, June 27, The Blessed Madonna, superstar of the underground house scene, will perform at SNF Nostos 2026 Up Late Party with Octave One, who experiment with techno-funk.
*To mark 30 years of community service, SNF is partnering with Release Athens to bring culture and music closer to everyone. With SNF’s contribution, ticket prices are offered 40-50% lower than usual for similar events.
Focusing on performances, exhibitions and experiences
SNF Nostos 2026 is not an event, it is an experience, inviting you to discover a multitude of actions, including:
– Mapping SNF’s journey: an interactive experience among 5700+ donations
– John’s Cafe: A space for digital detox
– Intercultural music performance by El Sistema Greece
– Jazz, neuroscience and the human society: A dynamic discussion and performance that highlights how the shared experience of music transcends cultural differences
– O Enemy of the People by Theatre of War Productions
– IS x VERY CUL: Geography Quiz – Special Edition
– The Trials of Atlas: An Interactive Performance
– Objects from the Future, Ethical Resonances in Medicine, exhibition by ETH Zurich
– Space, Interference, outdoor art exhibition by ARTWORKS
– Performances by the National Opera (ELS):
Leophorion the Desire
FutureCargo
So many times I am so close
–Ithaca – Long Journey Back, based on Cavafy’s Ithaca, by the THIASOS Mixed Theatre Group of TRITIS, with young people with and without disabilities
Focusing on sport
Physical and mental well-being is a key part of the event, and not only on a theoretical level. We will also move into practice, through shared sporting experiences:
– SNF Nostos Run, in collaboration with AMKE “Renaissance & Progress”.
Registration is now open!
– Friendly soccer games as part of the SNF Nostos Cup, against the backdrop of the World Cup. More information will be available soon!
This is just a small taste of all that SNF Nostos 2026 will include!
Visit snfnostos.org for the full schedule, which is constantly being enriched.
Watch the SNF Nostos 2026 Video
SNF Nostos of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF)
21-28 June 2026
at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Centre (SNFCC)
Free admission
snfnostos.org // snf.org
Follow SNF Nostos:
Official Websites: SNFNostos.org & SNF.org
YouTube
TikTok
Aboutthe Stavros Foundation Niarchos (SNF)
The Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF), which this year celebrates 30 years of activity, is one of the largest private charities in the world and makes donations to non-profit organizations in the fields of art and culture, education, health and sports, and social welfare. The SNF supports organizations and programs, worldwide, that are expected to bring tangible, lasting, and positive results to society at large and demonstrate effective management and good governance. The Foundation also supports programs that help public and private sector agencies work together as effective means of supporting the common good.Since 1996, the SNF has approved nearly $4 billion in more than 3.000 partner donor organizations in 137 countries around the world.
The ongoing International Health Initiative (IHI), with a total budget of more than $1 billion, is the largest initiative in the history of the SNF. It includes including the design, construction, and equipping of three new hospitals in Komotini, Thessaloniki, and Sparta, the procurement of specialized medical equipment, such as new aircraft for air ambulance services of the National Emergency Medical Center (EKAB), educational programs for the further training of health professionals, the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Initiative in Greece, and partnerships with leading international organizations to strengthen public health around the world, including Rockefeller University, Columbia University, New-York Presbyterian Hospital, Child Mind Institute, the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre and the National Children’s Alliance in the US, the Sant Joan de Déu Children’s Hospital in Barcelona, the King Hussein Cancer Foundation and Centre in Jordan and the Yorkshire Cancer Research organisation in the UK.
Μάθετε περισσότερα στο snf.org & στο snfghi.org.
