Matchboxes from the 1st Pan-Hellenic Conference of the Communist Youth of Greece and the historic 2nd Festival of KNE-Odigiti that took place in 1976. (Odigitis: KNE’s newspaper, which means guider.)
The KNE-Odigiti Festival has been held for five consecutive decades and this year the 47th Festival takes place in Tritsi Park, in Ilion, on September 23, 24 and 25. It started in 1975 and it is the leading event of the Communist Youth of Greece. It is to date the most massive nationwide youth political and cultural event with the participation of thousands of young people.
The events of the 2nd KNE Festival-Odigiti for the first time traveled to dozens of cities in Greece while the main events took place on 9-12 September 1976 in Kaisariani.
The setting up of the Festival inside the stadium of Kaisariani took place within 36 hours (!) because the space was not granted earlier to KNE.
Great writers, such as Giannis Ritsos, Elli Alexiou, Zisis Skaros, took the stage of the Festival and recited to the thousands of visitors of the Festival. Manos Loizos presented for the first time the collection of workers’ songs “Our songs”.
Manos Katrakis, in an interview to the newspaper “Rizospastis” addressed a call for participation to all people of art, saying characteristically: I believe that no worthy worker of art in this place should be left unmoved by the initiative of this enormous effort of the young people of KNE and Odigiti, and putting myself at their disposal, I call on all spiritual people to give their presence, in their own way, each one, sure that they are fulfilling the highest duty to their art and to our people “.
The 2nd Festival of KNE-Odigiti was helped by our “good man” Thanasis Vengos who stated in “Rizospasti”: “I would love to come and play at the Festival, but I can not. This contract with the theater has handcuffed me. But I will give a 35 mm projector and two of my films, whatever you want, and I will come as a mere spectator “.
Special and characteristic was the snapshot from the closing of the events of the Festival, where all the artists who were at the stadium of Kaisariani took the stage and sang with the people “Πότε θα κάνει ξαστεριά” (When will we see a clear sky?) This was a characteristic image that showed the pulse, the emotion, the direct and lively contact of people and artists, throughout the four-day events of the Festival.