Born recently and precisely in 2011, the Matala Festival was born to keep the Matala myth alive and is organized every year towards the end of June.

Matala is a small village on the southern coast of Crete famous for the period in which the hippies of the 60s and 70s settled down to live in natural caves dating back to the Minoan era. The distance from the massive modern culture and the charm of the unknown were the reasons why people started coming from all over the world considering this small part of Crete  as their paradise where they could dance, sing and live like in prehistoric times. The Cretan inhabitants, however, failed to understand all this freedom and the police intervened by having them evacuated.

In memory of those beautiful times that became legend where, however, respect for nature was one of the primary principles such as freedom, innocence and relaxation I was part of everyday life, every year this music festival is organized on the sandy beach where for three days Greek and foreign artists perform and join in a big party.

Matala also owes his popularity to the artist Joni Mitchell who gave his beautiful album “Blue” to the world of music, describing his experience of life in caves with young hippies.

An experience for the more adventurous not to be missed on their holidays in Greece.