As part of the night, entitled, Thanassis Valtinos in Vienna, the author Vasilis Tsiabousis will present Valtinos, a very popular author in Greece, and one of the most successful contemporary authors and screenwriters.

He will read selected passages from his works, while a representative of the Institute of Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies at  the University of Vienna, will read the same passages from the German translation. Live Greek music by Loukia Agapiou, Antonis Vounelakos and Aleksandar Pandilovski will accompany the event.

As referred by the Federation of Greek Associations in Austria, which currently has nine member-associations, its aim is to take the opportunity to spread Greek literature to the German speaking audience.

The Greek group’s performance drew much critical praise, even though they didn’t win. The German newspaper Bild wrote that the group’s Alcohol Is Free song is described as “a love confession to Ouzo” and notes that “for these Greeks there was no bankruptcy”.

“Koza Mostra from Thessaloniki is one of the most famous ska bands in Greece, while the folk pop singer Agathonas Iakovidis is a big name for many decades,” the newspaper wrote.

It continued: “While the 58-year-old Iakovidis undertook the traditional part, with the stringed musical instrument baglama, the men with the kilts were actually jumping in the Balkan rhythms. The mixture was good: Koza Mostra and Agathonas Iakovidis advanced to the final”.

The newspaper noted that the crisis didn’t affect Greece’s participation in the contest, unlike Portugal and Slovakia, and that the song does not encourage alcohol use, but symbolizes the spirit of freedom.

Finally the article concludes saying: “Anyway, if the men with the kilts manage to stir up the audience, no one will notice the lyrics. Besides, the lyrics are in Greek.”

The international conference ECOWEEK 2013 New Nordic Living in Copenhagen, an initiative of the Greek NGO ECOWEEK and the School KEA Copenhagen School of Design and Technology is the first to take place in Scandinavia.

The international conference is taking place with the cooperation and support of the Municipality of Copenhagen, with 27 ‘green’ design workshops that address real problems in the city. Some of the workshop proposals may be further developed, adopted by the city and some may be implemented.

The conference was greeted by Mayor of the Technical and Environmental Administration of Copenhagen Ayef Baykal, the rector of KEA Ingo Osterskov, and the founding chairman of ECOWEEK Architect and Environmental Consultant Dr. Elias Messinas. The conference was moderated by Jesper Pagh, architect and editor of the Danish Architectural Press, and included lectures by Michael Asgaard Andersen who introduced the New Nordic Living concept from the exhibition in Louiziana Museum of Denmark, and architect Kristian Villadsen associate architect at Gehl Architects.

The opening of the conference included screening of the new film by director Andreas Mol Dalsgaard on the research and work of Danish architect Jan Gehl entitled ‘The Human Scale’.

During the week ECOWEEK 2013 New Nordic Living will also host lectures by the Minister of Education of Denmark Morten Ostergaard and the Commissioner for Climate Change Connie Hedegaard.

The ECOWEEK ‘green’ design workshops will take place until May 17, and will be presented on Saturday May 18, with the participation of Canadian architect Daniel Pearl, the urban ecologist Salvador Rueda founder of the Urban Ecology Agency of Barcelona, Marianna Lubanski, director of the Cluster Dept. of Copenhagen at Clean Tech Cluster, Jesper Pagh, architect and editor of the Danish Architectural Press and Alex Heick Chairman of the Local Committee Bispebjerg.

ECOWEEK 2013 New Nordic Living workshops in Copenhagen are attended by architects, designers, engineers, landscape architects and students from Denmark, Greece, Israel, Brazil, Canada, Poland, Italy, Sweden, China, England, Germany and Serbia.

ECOWEEK is a non profit organization established in Greece in 2005 with the mission to raise environmental awareness, awareness on Climate Change and to promote the principles of sustainability. ECOWEEK founding chairman is architect and environmental consultant Dr. Elias Messinas. ECOWEEK is based in Athens, Aegina and Jerusalem, and is organized by the ECOWEEK Associates in 15 countries. The ECOWEEK network has members in 43 countries.

More information at www.ecoweek.org

The Greek beer Volkan “born in Santorini” was awarded Product Innovation of the Year at the International Beer Awards of the Canadean’s 9th Annual International Beer Strategy Conference 2013 that took place from 14^th to 15^th May 2013 in Prague, Czech Republic.

Volkan competed with famous brewing industry labels, but the juries chose it for the beer’s unique recipe and quality. Petros Nomikos, creator of Volkan, stated: “We are very happy to receive this special award. Our goal is to support “act locally, think globally,” promoting the best Greek flavors and traditions around the world. Every Volkan beer represents our rich agricultural heritage and thousandsof years history, while supporting our islands’ agricultural traditions. Volkan’s three main ingredients are local, original and innovative at the same time as they have never before been used in a beer”.

Santorini Honey -at the end of the summer, the bees of Santorini indulge on the sucrose of wine grapes left out in the sun to mature. This grape honey, with its uniquely and intensely local flavor is added near the end of the brewing process, to ensure that its flavor is fully preserved.

Citrus Medica - is the oldest known variety of citrus. The citron’s flavour can be obtained from the fruit’s thick pith and skin, but he said the company’s supplier, Promponas of Naxos (est. 1913), meticulously extracts it from the leaves of the tree itself. They boil the leaves in alcohol and distil the essence several times in a 100-year-old still, a process similar to the art of perfumery. Promponas supplies Volkan with their unique citron essence on an exclusive basis.

Lava Rock Filter-The water with which a beer is brewed lends a lot to the taste of the beer itself. However, Santorini ground water is scarce and no longer suitable for brewing, due to its high salinity. Thus, in order to create authentic Santorini style water, he said, “We have taken basalt from the eruption of 1600 BC, rich in native minerals and created a special filter, developed exclusively for Volkan, through which all of our brew water is passed. The aim was to create water that simulates the ancient Santorini spring water and what it may have tasted like some 3000 years ago.”

The Festival is organized by the company Momenti Luxembourg, Wines and More, which imports and distributes Greek wines, in cooperation with the Association of European Sommeliers (Association des Sommeliers d’ Europe- ASE) and with the communication support of the Press Office of the Greek Embassy in Luxembourg.

More than 50 Greek wine labels will be presented, giving the chance to the visitor to get to know the Greek wines, their flavor and quality. More than 14 wineries from many parts of Greece participate in the Festival (North Greece, Peloponnese, Crete etc.)

A Luxembourg newspaper said Greek wines should do well. “They do not fear comparison with similar European products and are offered at very attractive prices,” it said.

A tourist office from Skopelos will also participate in the Festival. The tourist office intends to promote the island and Northern Sporades generally, as well as the relevant discount holiday card Let’s Go To Skopelos 2013.

Evgeny Pisarevsky, Deputy Head of Rostourism organization, welcomed the forum and expressed his surprise that Greece was absent up till now from the market of medical services in Russia. He estimated that Greece, thanks to its exceptional climate, its gastronomy and the historic-cultural adjacency with Russia, can substantially upgrade its position in the Russian market within the next years, as shown by the constantly increasing number of Russian tourists visiting Greece.

Maya Lomidze, Head of the Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR), among the organizers along with Tourism Today, welcomed the fact that Greece has enriched its tourism product, indicating in this way the interest of prolonging the tourist season and the attraction of higher budget tourists. She pointed out that the Russian market related to medical tourism comes up to 300,000 tourists, with an annual growth rate up to 20 percent.

This first effort, under the auspices of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Tourism, was supported with grants and the active presence of the Greek National Tourism Organization (GNTO), the Public Properties Company SA (ETAD), the Greek Embassy in Moscow, and the Russian-language magazine Ellada.

Gerasimos Davaris, Chargé d’Affaires of the Greek Embassy, Ioannis Plotas, Consul General of Greece, Elias Thanassas, Head of the Embassy’s Office of Economic and Commercial Affairs, Polikarpos Efstathiou, Head of GNTO’s Office and Gregory Sarafianos, President of the Panhellenic Association of Private Clinics (PEIK) attended the event.

Fyodor Yurchikhin, a cosmonaut of Greek descent, welcomed the work of this first forum, just 24 hours before leaving for the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, from where he will be launched into space for the fourth time on May 28.

The performance is a brief narration of Ritsos’ life and focuses on the most important stations of his turbulent life, rich in emotions and poetic production.

The actors are simultaneously narrators, and accompany the pure narration of events with Ritsos’ original lyrics. The narration-recitation is interrupted by his lyrics set to music by the great composer Mikis Theodorakis.

The Greek theatrical group, which is supported by the Association of Greek Students and Scientists of Vienna (SEFEV), announced that this performance is an original concept which combines various art genres, such as theater, literature, music, songs and is homage and acquaintance of the spectator with one of the greatest modern Greek poets.

The performance follows the parallel course of Ritsos’ political action and poetic creation, the latter leading him to the verge of the Nobel Prize in Literature.

The group notes that Ritsos is above all things, a fighter who struggles and writes lyrics-hymns to human, beyond races, nations and religions, proclaiming universal and timeless values, such as peace, love and freedom, His faith in these eternal ideals led Ritsos to open conflict with every political authority, resulting in successive prosecutions and exiles.

This very first Greek theatrical group in Vienna believes that, after the performance the spectator becomes a better person, his heart turns to his fellowman with true love and interest, and according to Ritsos, “ And look, my brother, we learned to talk very quietly and simply. We understand each other now – there is no need for anything more.”

It is the company Papadimitriou from the food industry, the selection of which was made at the International Selection Panel (ISP) that took place in Buenos Aires, Argentina from May 6-8.

Papadimitriou Company, represented by the CEO Christos Papadimitriou, is a family business founded in 1939 in the Greek city of Kalamata to export currants from the Pelopponese region of Greece. In the late 1990′s, Papadimitriou transformed to become a producer of all-natural balsamic vinegars and mustards in unique Mediterranean flavors, all derived from currants.

Today it sells these value-added products in major supermarkets in Greece, where it is the balsamic vinegar market leader, as well as in 28 export markets, according to Endeavor Global’s website.

Endeavor selected 17 High-Impact Entrepreneurs from 11 companies from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Greece, Mexico, South Africa and Uruguay at its 48th International Selection Panel. Endeavor now supports 801 High-Impact Entrepreneurs from 500 companies in 15 emerging and growth market countries, as reported in Endeavor’s website.

The International Selection Panel (ISP) is the culmination of a rigorous multi-step selection process. At the ISP, top local and international business leaders interview candidates about their businesses and high-impact potential, and then vote on whether or not candidates become Endeavor Entrepreneurs.

Post-selection, Endeavor provides entrepreneurs with customized services, including introductions to local and international business mentors and volunteers from Fortune 500 consulting firms. Endeavor Entrepreneurs have had a significant track record of creating thousands of jobs and building sustainable growth models in their home countries.

Endeavor will host three additional International Selection Panels in 2013: Johannesburg, August 2013; Palo Alto, CA, October 2013 and Dubai, UAE, December 2013.

Thrice Holy, call of the dead, speeches, wreath laying and presentation of Mikis Theodorakis’ monumental work Mauthausen will be held during the ceremony.

Representatives of the Greek state and the Republic of Cyprus, as well as the Greek ambassador to Austria, Themistocles Dimidis, will attend the ceremony at the Greek monument in Mauthausen, on the occasion of the 68th anniversary of the liberation of the concentration camp by the Allied Forces on 5 May, 1945.

The Thrice Holy will be conducted by the Archpriest of the Holy Metropolis of Austria, Ioannis Nikolitsis, representing the Greek Orthodox Metropolitan of Austria and Exarch of Hungary and Mid-Europe, Arsenios.

Massive delegations and many members of the Greek Diaspora will be sent from Vienna representing many associations, such as the Intercultural Association Macedonia, the Federation of Greek Communities of Austria and the Hellenic Society of Austria. The four songs from Mauthausen will be presented by the band of Vienna The Greeks.

Austria’s state and political leadership will attend the big joint ceremony at Mauthausen’s central monument that will follow the ceremonies at the Greek and other countries’ national monuments. Dozens of official delegations and thousands of pilgrims are expected to be present.

On May 5, the new museum facilities of the former Nazi concentration camp were inaugurated, after five years of renovation.

Theodorakis’ monumental work Mauthausen is based on the poetry of the great theatrical writer and academic Iakovos Kambanelis, who stayed at the concentration camp of Mauthausen for two and a half years and was among the very few survivors. The great Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis set Mauthausen to music in 1966.

Almost all foreign diplomats who serve in the city, representatives of the British Foreign Ministry and journalists from all around the world attended the ceremony. More than 100 diplomats who served during the last years were candidates; only 10 were distinguished in the respective number of categories.

Sir Christopher John Rome Meyer, former British ambassador to the United States, presented the ceremony. He is one of the most prominent members of the diplomatic corps in Great Britain and a well-known writer in his field.

Meyer praised the Diamantis’ work serving his country as well as Vice President of the Diplomatic Press Attachés’ Association of London (DPAAL). Meyer pointed out that, in the framework of his duties at the Greek Embassy’s Press Office, Diamantis has offered his country an excellent service, “during a really difficult juncture.”

Diamantis noted: “I feel great honor for the prize I was awarded. It is an extreme satisfaction, particularly at an important post that London is and during a particularly difficult but extremely interesting conjuncture.”

He added: “It reflects the great effort that the Press Office and the Greek Embassy in London in general has made, in order to respond to a difficult task, towards Mass Media of global reach.”