Pafos2017 main summer event will be spectacular By
Bejay Browne
“Eternal
Voyages,” will be the summer highlight of the Pafos2017
cultural capital programme. The large scale outdoor theatre
piece, which will feature the castle, will be presented at
Paphos harbour, on July 1.
Pafos2017 announced an
open call for participation in the European cultural
capital’s main summer event, and the successful
composer/musical director, choreographer and writer will be
announced in March.
Anastazia Anastasiou of Pafos
2017 said that the event promises to be spectacular,
utilising dramatic performance- including poetical text and
song in both English and Greek.
There will be dance,
mass choreography, processional performance, acrobatic
aerialists, fire drawing, a water spectacle, dynamic
lighting and sound design accompanied by an original musical
score and awe inspiring special effects including a
pyrotechnic finale, she said.
The overall show will
be around one and a half hours long and the finale
composition will be uplifting with a celebratory feel. Three
travellers will feature, whose individual stories unfold as
they arrive by land, sea and air.
“Paphos has been
visited by many different travellers throughout history,
like many of the Mediterranean islands it’s been a place of
shelter and a strategic location. It’s both a place of
connection and of friction,” she said.
The castle
will take centre stage, illustrating the stories of the
three featured travellers from the ancient times up to the
present day, using projections and high quality digital
animation and mapping.
Vandals
destroy trees and smash shop windows By Bejay Browne
Vandals in Paphos old town
were caught on CCTV cutting down newly planted trees and
smashing shop windows, aided by insufficient street
lighting, officials said.
The incidents took place in
a part of Paphos old town which is currently undergoing
major upgrading works leaving some roads dug up and areas
unlit.
Paphos Green Party district secretary, Andreas
Evlavis, said that the mindless stupidity of such actions
must not go unpunished and is appealing to the municipality
and the police to ensure measures are in place to curb such
behaviour.
“The three young men were captured on
camera leaving a nightclub and footage shows them cutting
trees,” he said.
The incident which occurred at 3am
involved newly planted saplings which are being planted
around the town with the aim of beautifying the area. He
said around two hours late, at 5am, the trio turned their
attention to nearby shops, smashing the windows of three of
the premises.
“There are not enough lights and not
enough police. There need to be more police in the area,
especially after 12am, at least until the roads are
completed and the lighting installed.”
He warned: “We
don’t want the old town to turn into another Ayiou Antoniou
street,” – referring to ‘bar street’, in Kato Paphos which
is in the heart of the tourist area and full of bars, clubs
and cafes.
Evlavis said that store owners in the area
are worried about such incidents and the lack of lighting.
“These are the actions of stupid people doing stupid things
just for fun. These matters must be taken seriously. The
police must find and arrest these three and they must pay
for their crimes, there can be no excuses. We need to be
stricter.”
Two Paphos buildings get
new lease of life By Bejay Browne
Two historical buildings in Paphos
have been given a new lease of life and will be left as a
legacy of Pafos2017, the town’s culture capital title, for
years to come, according to the projects’ architect. The
Shelley residence and the old Sodap ice factory are being
tidied up on a minimal budget for the present, but Lanitis
Bros – major sponsors of Pafos2017 – will foot the bill for
the complete renovation of both buildings in the future.
“These spaces were selected by
the Pafos2017 organisation in order to be used as venues for
hosting events, therefore we strongly feel that they are
part of the Pafos2017 legacy programme,” said architect
Valentinos Stefanou, who is also an event organiser for
Pafos2017.
Although the present budget for each
building is small, less than two thousand euros, it will
take two months to clean up the old Sodap ice factory and
four months for the Shelley residence, as the project is
reliant on municipal staff, said Stefanou.
He added
that work, which is purely cosmetic at this stage, will
include clearing and tidying outside areas, interior rooms
and installing new lighting where needed.
“Both
projects were implemented by the services of Paphos
municipality and the Pafos2017 contribution and it’s a small
amount and obviously won’t mean they can be fully renovated
right now,” he said.
However, he added that Lanitis
Bros will pay for proper renovation in the future. “I
don’t know how much this will cost, it depends on the plans
and it will be some time in the future, but this is very
important for Paphos,” he said.
The Shelley residence
is located on a cliff edge in central Paphos and is named
after Dr Shelley, a British doctor, who lived there between
1955-1959, said Stefanou. It is now hosting part of the
Pafos2017 ‘Planites’ exhibition.
The old ice factory
is located in the area of Panayias’ Pantanassa and the
Technical School and belongs to the Sodap wine cooperative
which offered it to Paphos municipality.
The old ice
factory’s outdoor space was used for a theatre event in
October 2016, which Stefanou said was a success. He added
that it would be an excellent venue for music and theatre
events. “As Paphos is now under construction, it is
important to renovate spaces for future use. These two
projects will be added to the list of new cultural venues
for Paphos and open up many new opportunities.”
Mayor officially signs for EU funds By
Bejay Browne
The mayor of
Paphos signed the official documents to release the EU
structural funds, which are being used for the major
upgrading works currently underway in Paphos.
Some money had already been
allocated to Paphos and this enabled significant portions of
the works to start.
“Time was pressing and Paphos was
given enough money to go ahead, but today is the so called
‘official’ signing and approval,” a spokesman for the
municipality said.
The funding, which amounts to 23.6
million euros being is handed over in staggered payments, he
added.
Phedonos signed the documents for the funds,
which are being implemented under the European Union’s
‘Sustainable Urban Development Programme’, at the offices of
the interior ministry’s unit for European funds, the
intermediate body for sustainable urban development
projects.
The money is being used in five important
projects in Paphos. A budget of €4m has been allocated for
connecting and developing October 28 Square, Kosti Palama
Square and Dionysios Solomos Square in central Paphos.
The renovation, remodelling and improvement of services
in Moutallos are underway, with a budget of €3.8m.
A
budget of €8.7 million is being used for upgrading of roads
in the traditional commercial centre in Paphos old town.
These are ongoing and will improve traffic management and
the appearance of Kennedy Square. Some €3.9m are going to
the Markideio theatre and its surroundings.
Finally,
the restoration of ‘Ibrahim’s Khan’ in central Paphos is
being completed with a budget of €3.2m.
Thousands expected for Cyprus marathon in Paphos By
Bejay Browne
Thousands of
runners will line up in Paphos to participate in what
promises to be the largest Cyprus marathon event to date.
Now in its 19th year, the Logicom Cyprus Marathon will
be held on Sunday March 5, and will see around 2,000 runners
take part in the four events: the Logicom Cyprus marathon,
the half marathon, the 10km road race and the 5km fun run.
The event traditionally attracts amateur runners from
all over the world, including club and occasional runners.
“We have already exceeded the 1,800 runners that took
part last year, entry to the marathon is now closed but
there are still a few places left in the other races,” race
director Stavros Kakourides said.
Three hundred
runners will take part in this year’s marathon compared to
200 last year including British marathon runner Richard
Waldron, 29, who has vowed to beat the course record.
Waldron, from Southampton, is
currently training hard to beat his personal best and to
become the first English runner to win the title, Kakourides
said.
The 29-year-old currently runs with the
Southampton Athletic Club and one of his achievements last
year was winning the Palma de Mallorca marathon in 2 hours
38 minutes and 31 seconds. The Cyprus marathon record was
set in 2005 by Salameh Al Aqra from Jordan who ran the
course in 2 hours 33 minutes and 3 seconds.
“Waldron’s target is 2 hours 25 minutes, his personal best
is 2 hours 27 minutes, we wish him luck,” Kakourides said.
The marathon will be run over an almost flat course
starting from Petra tou Romiou at 7.30am and finishing along
the Paphos seafront to the castle square.
The Cyprus
half marathon, 10km race and 5km fun run will be out and
back starting and finishing at Paphos castle square.
This year’s marathon is again dedicated to the memory of
legendary Paphos born marathon runner Stelios Kyriakides,
and the overall winners will be presented with gilded olive
wreaths by his son, Dimitris.
www.
logicomcyprusmarathon.com
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