Carnival in Athens in 1969: A nostalgic journey through time
Color video from the file of Dr. Hatzidaki records rare footage from the Halloween events in the center of Athens in 1969.
We were in the center of Athens, the capital of Greece, on February 23, 1969, a date that marks the events of that year.
In front of the building of the National Kapodistrian University of Athens, workers place seats for those who officially attend the Carnival parade, in the background Lycabettus. On the opposite sidewalk a little boy disguised as a traffic warden.
The city, the shops, the streets, the entertainment centers are decorated with big masks, dummies, streamers. A man comes out of a tavern.
From a floor balcony on Stadiou Street, at the height of Kolokotroni Square, the cinematographer gives us shots of decorated cars that take part in the parade, chaise longues, carnivalgoers in groups or alone, the Philharmonic.
Following are cheerleaders, dancing couples, men and women in local costumes, an advertising chariot of the flour products company “ALLATINI” and the parade continues in the bright city.
Citizens are partying, singing, blowing their whistles, the filmmaker is now among them, as they have arrived in Plaka, outside the nightclub “Old Athens”, where Marinella, Dimitris Mitropanos, Klio Denardou and Sophie Zanou sang.
Watch the video with the rare shots from the Athens carnival in 1969: