Sand Festival

Sand Festival is a celebration of literature, poetry, music, art and anything you can bring to a Greek beach to share with all participants of the festival. Every summer - since 2015 - we make an open call for submissions on a specific theme by writers, poets, musicians and all sorts of artists who would like to join us on a Greek island in order to create a spontaneous celebration of creativity! The Festival has taken place in Gavdos, Koufonissia and Milos and each year happens on a different beach with camping facilities in order to offer participants the option of cheap accommodation. Participation is free and open to writers and all sorts of artists from anywhere in the world (for writers/poets, submitted texts must be in English). The texts that are selected and read at the festival each year are published in an anthlogy by Strange Days Books, a publishing cooperative that also organises Sand Festival.

5^th Sand Festival 23-24 August 2019, Possidi Chalkidiki

INTERNATIONAL SECTION

Eyelands Magazine and Strange Days Books are thrilled to invite you to the 5^th Sand Festival, which will take place at the beach of Possidi in Chalkidiki on Friday the 23^rd and Saturday the 24^th of August.

We welcome submissions by poets and writers from anywhere in the world, who are willing to come to the Festival and read their texts on the sand. Poems must be maximum two A4 pages long and fiction must be maximum 1500 words.

The theme this year is: “Suddenly, last summer”

Poem and short story submissions are open from 15/5 to 10/7. You may send your texts to either eyelandsmag@gmail.com or strangedaysbooks@gmail.com . All selected writers and poets must pay a 10 euro participation fee (which will go towards the translation of the selected texts for publication into Greek), payable via paypal (see the paypal button on our website https://sandfestival.wordpress.com/english ).

Results will be announced and selected writers will be notified by the 20^th of July.

The maximum amount of texts we can accept (For the International Section) is 10 short stories and 10 poems. The selected texts will be published in a print edition in Greek by Strange Days Books; the book will be presented in Athens in November and later in Thessaloniki.

As in all previous festivals, invited writers and poets will be reading their work on the sand of a beautiful Greek beach. Participants will also have a chance to discuss with the audience and to participate in a writing workshop with writers whose books have been published by Strange Days Books.

However, Sand Festival is not just about literary discussions, readings and book presentations; it is also about music, photography, performances, beach parties or even gazing at the stars. This year, participants will also have the chance to take a tour at the lighthouse of Kassandra. And there will be more activities we will be announcing during the summer because, after all, we are the most spontaneous festival in the world!

This year we chose the beach of Possidi at the Kassandra peninsula in Chalkidiki. Possidi is located in very short distance from Thessaloniki (approx. 1 hour drive, with buses leaving frequently from Thessaloniki). It is a gorgeous sandy (of course) beach with a camping site, for which we will try to secure a special discounted price for festival participants. There are also plenty of rooms to rent in the area.

Looking forward to seeing you all in Chalkidiki!

Information about the area of Kassandra Peninsula here: https://kassandra.gr/

Information about Kassandra’s Lighthouse (also our meeting point on Friday 23^rd, 17:00) http://www.faroi.com/en/kasandra.htm

Information about bus transportation from Thessaloniki to Chalkidiki here: http://www.ktel-chalkidikis.gr/index.php?act=viewCat&catId=1001

SAND FESTIVAL – PROGRAMME

FRIDAY 23^RD AUGUST

Readings on the sand / poetry Writer of the evening: Christodoulos Lintzerinos Book presentation and discussion Music

SATURDAY 24^TH AUGUST

Readings on the sand / short stories Writer of the evening: Anna Spartali Book presentation and discussion Music Beach party

Additional events to be announced: visual art exhibition, book fair, photography exhibition. There is a possibility to add more events during the morning hours of Friday, Saturday and Sunday as well as additional activities, such as tours etc.