Corfu Hosts International Festival of Philharmonic Bands

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Corfu is hosting the second International Festival of Ionian Islands Philharmonic Bands 2026, bringing together philharmonic bands and musical ensembles from Greece and abroad for two days of performances.

The festival begins this afternoon with musical presentations at locations across Corfu’s historic Old Town, followed by an international parade of local and visiting musical ensembles.

The main artistic event will take place on Saturday, September 19, at 8:30pm in Corfu’s Lower Square.

Music fills Corfu’s Old Town

The first stage of the festival will take place in the historic centre, where ensembles from Corfu’s historic philharmonic bands and the mixed choir ensemble Anemomylos “Thomas Flanginis” will present short programmes at selected locations.

Performances will take place at Annunziata Square, Agios Spyridon Square (Plakados), Kofineta, Liston and Pentofanaro.

The Philharmonic Society “Mantzaros” will participate with two ensembles: “Jazz on the Move”, conducted by Dimitris Argyrou, and “Drum Line on the Road”, conducted by Spyros Aspiotis.

The Philharmonic Society of Corfu – Old Philharmonic will take part with its Bandina, which features around 60 to 70 young musicians. Under the direction of chief conductor Spyros Kakarougas, the ensemble will perform works by Manos Hadjidakis, Giorgos Katsaros and Giannis Markopoulos.

The Anemomylos “Thomas Flanginis” Mixed Choir Ensemble, conducted by Andreas Gkousis, will also perform works from the musical tradition of the Ionian Islands.

The Municipal Philharmonic of Zakynthos, Artemision District, conducted by chief conductor Dionysis Mallias, will also participate.

International parade through Corfu

Following the Old Town performances, the International Parade of Local and Visiting Musical Ensembles will begin at 9pm.

The parade will feature the Philharmonic Bands of Gastouri “Omonia” and Sinarades, three Municipal Philharmonic Bands from Zakynthos, and musical ensembles from Italy, Serbia, Poland and Ukraine.

Among the visiting ensembles are the Fanfara of Bedizzole: Bersaglieri from Italy, the Police Orchestra of the City of Belgrade from Serbia, the Representative Orchestra of the Border Guard from Poland and “Crazy Drummers”, a project by Studio-117 from Ukraine.

Main festival event on Saturday

The festival’s second day on Saturday, September 19, will centre on the main artistic event at Corfu’s Lower Square, beginning at 8:30pm.

The programme will feature musical, dance and choral ensembles, alongside presentations of formations and choreographed movements by the participating philharmonic bands.

Musical ensembles presenting organised formations will have up to 10 minutes, while simple musical parades will last up to five minutes.

The organisers will present the philharmonic bands according to their founding dates, starting with the most recently established and moving towards the oldest.

The programme will also include a dance performance by the Niki Giannou Dance School, with a theme centred on world peace.

Historic Corfu bands unite

A special part of the event will bring together and feature the three historic philharmonic bands of Corfu in a joint appearance and parade.

They are the Philharmonic Union “Kapodistrias”, the Philharmonic Society “Mantzaros” and the Philharmonic Society of Corfu – Old Philharmonic.

The Corfu Choirs Association will also participate in the main event with choral ensembles from across the island.

According to the programme, the association will present an arrangement of Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy”, as well as a new work featuring Italian tenor Al Bano.

Greek singer Fotini Darra will also make a guest appearance.

Music composer and artistic director of AOPIN SA Thanos Georgoulas oversees the artistic design and programming of the event.

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