Filenews 20 April 2021 - by Dora Christodoulou
The top cultural event of Cyprus in the last fifteen years, the Opera of Paphos, for the second time in a row will not take place. Revealing information of "F" indicates that although no formal decision has yet been taken on the subject, the officials of the Municipality of Paphos now take for granted that the Pafos Aphrodite Festival, which has placed the city and Cyprus in general in the calendar of world-wide cultural events, is also cancelled this year on the basis of the current decrees of the Ministry of Health due to the pandemic.
The same information indicates that the competent municipal authorities estimate that it is now too late to do the enormous preparations required for an event of this scope to be ready, even if the health situation improves now immediately. In any case, they pointed out, in general the situation in Europe does not allow for the continuous contacts and travel required for months in order to complete the preparation for an event of this magnitude, so it is now assumed that this year's event will also be postponed in order to preserve the quality that has given it worldwide fame and recognition.
The opera as it is known takes place on the first three days of Friday, Saturday and Sunday of September each year in the square area of the Medieval Castle of Kato Paphos.
The agents of the Municipality of Paphos who made these assessments to "F" expressed the regret of the municipal authorities for this development, which is however necessary in the ongoing serious circumstances and expressed the hope that everything will allow the Pafos Aphrodite Festival to return as normal in 2022.
For the same reason, it is certain that the closer events for Kataklysmos, planned every June in the port of Kato Paphos, will also be postponed. However, the events of Kataklysmos are considered to be of secondary importance in relation to opera, both in terms of quality and public response, since in Paphos and especially in recent years the acceptance of such events is not equivalent as in other cities, such as Larnaca, with citizens accustomed to higher-level events such as the institution of opera.
