The 55th International Cultural Festival Karaiskakeia, organized by the Union of Cultural Associations of N. Karditsa, in co-organization with the Region of Thessaly - Regional Unit of Karditsa, the Regional Union of Municipalities of Thessaly, the Municipality of Karditsa, the Chamber of Karditsa and with the support of the Holy Metropolis of Thessaly and Fanariofersalon.

The evening began with the greeting of the President of the Union of Cultural Associations Manolis Stergiopoulos, who gave a brief account of the event and thanked everyone who contributed to its success.

The mayor of Karditsa, Vasilis Tsiakos, declared the end of the event and said that "For one week, Karditsa was at the centre of attention. Every ending creates the expectation of a new beginning. We thank the Union of Cultural Associations, the volunteers, the dancing groups. For one week we had an exchange of cultural messages. Culture unites. It gives us answers to many questions that concern us. I declare the end and next year we will all be here together.

In the musical program of the evening, the Cultural Association of Agia Triada presented Carnival events from the region, the Cultural Association of Metropolis Karagounika, the Folklore, Music and Dance Association "Thessalian Dance" that chose for its program Aridaia-Pella as well as the foreign dance groups from Ukraine ("Folk Dance Ensemble Barvograi"), Bulgaria ("Folk Dance Group Chudesiya"), Thailand ("Buriram Rajabhat University") and Serbia ("KUD mladih Novi Pazar") that impressed the audience.

With this solemn way and these beautiful images, the curtain fell on the 55th International Karaiskakeia Cultural Festival, which was dedicated to the heroes of the Greek Revolution.
It was a festive and very special seven days of events during which Karditsa was at the centre of national, and not only national, interest, promoting our culture, our customs and traditions.

The protagonists of the event were the 41 dance groups (Greek and foreign), which participated with performances both in the city and in 14 villages of the Prefecture, and their more than 1,000 dancers who gave their soul on stage and all together sent the message that culture is the only one that can truly unite peoples.
Presented by Vanessa Stylopoulou.

The greeting of the President of the H.P.S.K. Manolis Stergiopoulos
"Karaiskakis has left us a strong seed.
In this journey to culture, tradition, customs, traditions and folklore, Karditsa, for seven days, showed its talent, its hospitality and its hospitality to the whole world.
We all became a true embrace and sent the message that this human chain can bring peace everywhere. To make solidarity a way of life and fraternity a one-way street.
How tragically relevant do these messages become, really, year after year?
The drums of war will not be silenced, one crisis after another (health, energy, food, climate), a new world is emerging, bringing huge changes and upheavals in our lives.
But we will stand up again, as people throughout the centuries have always done in the face of every danger and threat. We will remain united and resist in any way we can, keeping our souls intact and remaining human.
Isn't this Festival a form of resistance, after all? Karditsa, against the signs of the times and the difficulties of the times, persists culturally. It continues to serve tradition, to contribute to fraternity between peoples and to the knowledge and exchange of cultural elements between them, but also to be a shining example of cooperation and volunteerism.
With these few words I will take a brief account of these seven days of celebration and of the four months of preparation that preceded them.
Forty-one dance groups, four foreign (from Bulgaria, Serbia, Thailand and Ukraine, which deeply touched us with the dance re-enactment of the war, presented to us), eight Greek (from Serres, Karpenisi, Drama, Crete, Thessaloniki, Larissa and Trikala) and 29 local ones, more than a thousand dancers, 23 sponsors, 20 volunteers and endless hours of work, agony and dedication to the common goal.
But also a lot of passion and excess of soul from all of us, which cannot be expressed in numbers but constitute the most basic material on which the rest of the building is built.
Friends,

This whole event could not have taken place without the valuable support of our co-organizers: the Region of Thessaly - Regional Unit Karditsa, the Municipality of Karditsa, the Regional Union of Municipalities of Thessaly, the Chamber of Karditsa as well as the Holy Metropolis of Thessaliotis and Fanariofersalon.
Warm thanks to all our sponsors who this year were more than ever before and stood by our side as valuable supporters so that we could rise to the occasion. We thank: the Cooperative Bank of Karditsa, GEK-TERNA, VIOLAND Cookies, Mantzios Technical S.A., Papagiannis Construction, the Milk Industry "OMIROS", the Natural Mineral Water Theoni, TOEB Tav Tavropos, the Food Production Company DAMAVAND S.A., BHP Organic Fertilizers Fertilizer Production Industry, ZORBAS Electrical Shop, JOIN US Day Care and Day Care Center for People with Disabilities, Karditsa Hondos Center Shop, the Psychiatric Clinic of Karditsa "KASTALIA", the Intercity Bus Station of Karditsa, the Fuel Station Moutarelos, the Winery Giorgos Karamitrou & Co.Ε. Katsis, the KLIAFAS Soft Drinks Company, "EVODIA" Aromatic Plants and Vissaria Vaiopoulou and, finally, the Clothing Store "DESSANERO"
We would like to thank our Communication Sponsors: ERT 3, ERT, ERT Larissa.
Also, thank you:
>The Karditsa Traffic Police, the Municipal Police of Karditsa, the General Prefectural Hospital of Karditsa and the Fire Service for their support.
>The actor, director Pavlos Vissariou for the direction and artistic supervision of the opening ceremony
>Opis Theatre for the kind sponsorship of the sets
>Nikos Kotoulas for the design of the poster and the invitations
>The Municipal Philharmonic Orchestra of Karditsa
>The Karditsa Sports and Horticultural Club "Artemis"
>All the dance groups, Greek, foreign and local, that participated in this year's event
>All the local Associations that hosted dance groups in their villages
>All the musicians
>The escorts of the foreign dancers, as well as all the volunteers who were the soul of the event
> The Treasurer of the Union of Cultural Associations Christos Tsialoukis and the President of the Audit Committee Yannis Glynos for all they offered as well as Dimitris Marras, the key man in our contacts with foreign dancers
>Vanessa Stylopoulou for the presentation, the translations and overall for her uninterrupted contribution to the organization
>And of course, a big thank you to all of you, the audience of Karaiskakeia, who have supported the institution over the years.
With the wish that there is peace throughout the world and that next year everything will be brighter and more beautiful and, of course, this institution will have an even more upward course, as it deserves, goodbye in June 2024, on the 56th Karaiskakeia".