The General Secretary of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) Dimitris Koutsoumbas visited the festival on Thursday 16 September, while the central political event took place on Friday with a speech delivered by the KKE Political Bureau member Kyrillos Papastavrou.
Among the cultural events which attracted thousands of people were music concerts by popular Greek artists including Vasilis Papakonstantinou, Glykeria, Natasa Bofiliou, Miltos Paschalidis, Giorgos Margaritis, Fivos Delivorias, Ioulia Karapataki, Connexion Rebellion and others. Singers and musicians paid tribute to Greece's legendary composer and political symbol Mikis Theodorakis who passed away earlier this month.
The central exhibition of the festival, organized by the KNE Organization of Central Macedonia, was titled "Socialism-Communism: From the kingdom of need to the one of actual freedom".
Commenting about the success of the KNE-Odigitis Festival in Thessaloniki, the Secretary of the KNE Organization of Central Macedonia Thanasis Sgouros said that the three-day festivities were "from every aspect a breath and gleam of hope".
The KNE-Odigitis Festival, the largest political youth festival in Greece and one of the largest of its kind in the world, will conclude its journey with a three-day events on 23, 24 and 25 September at Athens' Tritsis multidisciplinacy park.