Cultural Capital Opening Ceremony | Elefsina | February 4 & 5

What else but the Eleusinian Mysteries could have inspired the opening ceremony of Elefsina's year as a European Capital of Culture? Designed by the event's artistic director, Michail Marmarinos, and stage directed by the UK's Chris Baldwin, the two-day opening ceremony is designed around four processions, with Time Circus, a Belgian collective that has traveled 3,000 kilometers to reach the West Attica town; the Elefsinian Movement of 14 cultural associations representing the area's diverse communities; the participants, or Hemerodromes, of a 21-kilometer walking race down the Iera Odos (Sacred Way); and the inaugural journey of the "Sacred" Sea Route, a journey through seven historic municipalities connecting Piraeus and Elefsina for the first time in modern history. The first phase of the opening ceremony will be followed by a spectacular event along the seafront at 7 p.m.,...