*By Sotiris Valaris
Alexis Agrios, the artistic director of the Helmos Mountain Festival, explains how the idea for the festival came about, what contributed to its success, what ambitious projects are in the pipeline for this year and how, as well as being a musical event, it has given a boost to tourism in the region.
At the highest point in Achaia, where clouds glide over the slopes of Helmos and snow once sustained Kalavryta’s economy, a new era is dawning. Not with snowshoes, but with tents, guitars, smoke from open-air canteens and the sound of people reconnecting with nature. The Helmos Mountain Festival It is no longer just a festival. It is also a model for how a mountain destination can be transformed into a multi-themed attraction operating all year round.
The director of the Kalavryta ski resort and artistic director of the festival, Alexis Agrios, who has been living and working on the mountain for five years, remembers the beginning very clearly: “When I started, we were forced to close by government order because of Covid. Revenue was zero. The business survived on some government subsidies to which we were entitled, but which later had to be repaid. It was like gambling on a losing streak. But we held our ground.”
Standing and “fortunate in terms of the weather”. Because, as he recalls, the very next year the situation was completely reversed: “The market opened and we had one of our best years for tourism. There was a lot of snow that year, so we had a record number of visitors and a record number of tickets.”. Our highest figure was 66,000 tickets, and that year we sold 95,000 in 3.5 months, which is a 33% increase. ”We’ve had the best year since the ski resort opened in 1989.”
“We managed to achieve an occupancy rate of 100% during the summer season, compared with 10% previously. There is a huge difference across the wider area, including Zarouchla, Peristera, Aegialia and Kleitoria. The beauty of the surrounding countryside provides visitors with extra incentive to go for a walk.”
But this euphoria did not last long. The snow, the main attraction, was completely absent the following year. “We had a summer Christmas. Instead of 7,000 people a day, we had 200. Then, we had to decide what we could do.”
Somewhere out there, whilst looking ahead to the next day, he met a colleague who changed his way of thinking. “He said to me: ‘Shall we organise a festival in the mountains?’ I looked at him and said, ‘Hey, do people actually go to the mountains and brave the cold just for a festival?’” ”And he told me that there are thousands of people who would do that."
And so began the Helmos Mountain Festival. An idea that emerged from a conversation, took shape amidst the anxiety and fear of the first year, and finally erupted like a burst of enthusiasm on social media, in camping forums and amongst musicians. “We got in touch with the production company Novel Vox. We hit it off immediately. The first festival was organised in just three months. We started contacting each other at the end of March and the festival took place on 1–3 June.”. ”We expected 4,000 people, but 10,000 turned up. With no advertising whatsoever.”
How it spread is almost an urban legend. “Artists announced their summer tours and everyone included Helmos.”. ”Nobody knew what Helmos was, so everyone was looking for it; it became a trend and then went viral.”
“I grew up on this mountain until I was 18”
Behind the festival, however, there was already a personal connection with the mountain. “I ran a ski school at the Kalavryta ski resort and a restaurant on Patmos, which I still own today. For obvious reasons, I sold the school. I’ve been skiing since I was four years old. I grew up on this mountain until I was 18. I’ve also trained abroad. I knew what Helmos meant and what its potential was.”
And indeed, with the Helmos Mountain Festival, everything changed. “We are the only ski resort in Greece that remains open after the winter season. We are setting a new trend. Instead of Greece being a summer-only destination, we are developing new destinations in our mountains. All these destinations are coming to life. In fact, the ski resort had a turnover of 1,300,000 euros even before the festival. We have now managed to exceed 4 million euros.”
And this is not just a figure. “We managed to achieve an occupancy rate of 100% during the summer season, compared with 10%. There is a huge difference for the surrounding areas, Zarouchla, Peristera, Aegialeia, Kleitoria. The beauty of the surrounding area gives visitors an extra incentive to go for a walk.”
The early days were full of surprises. “I remember that before Easter we put 1,000 tickets on sale. I was in Patmos. The company that manages the tickets rang me after 40 minutes to say they’d sold out. I didn’t know what to do. I said, ‘Put another 1,000 on sale’. Within an hour, the same thing happened. Not to mention that 6,000 tickets were sold in six days.”
And all this whilst “the first year we had rain and mud. You can’t imagine how happy the people were. They didn’t even care. “I remember the last day, at Giannis Charoulis’s final performance. I went up, saw how many people had turned up and realised that all this was actually happening. It created some crazy expectations for us.’
What changed in the second year of the Helmos Mountain Festival
The success of the first festival left no room for hesitation. “Last year we were better prepared,” he says. “It took place later in the summer; we had more sunshine and better conditions. We received positive feedback from everyone. It has become an institution in its own right, something the whole region now looks forward to.”
The scale of the event was impressive. “There are 700 people in employment, from ticket control and sound engineers to setting up the stage and checking the tents. We have a food plaza with 14 stalls serving a variety of food, where you can even take part in a truffle hunt, cook it with the chefs and eat it in a barleycorn, for example.” As well as the music, there were plenty of other activities. “You can go horse riding, ziplining, do yoga, or take a chairlift ride. Everything!”
The Helmos Mountain Festival now serves as a guide for a more comprehensive transition in the tourism sector: “We are trying to move towards year-round operation and transform the ski resort into a four-season multi-theme park. The festival has shown us how to achieve this.”
Challenges remain. “One major problem we are trying to solve is the queue for the toilets. When you have such a large number of campers, it’s impossible to predict their needs 100% of the time.”. This year we are doubling the number of toilets and showers. ”We want people to feel as though they’re at home.”
At the same time, international music is gradually being incorporated. “We are becoming the first provincial festival to embrace foreign music. This year, for example, we will be hosting Dub FX, Nouvelle Vague, Alborosie & Shegen Clan. We are demonstrating what we intend to do in the coming years.”
And what about the rubbish? For Alexis Agrios and the entire Helmos Mountain Festival team, environmental awareness is not just a slogan; it is put into practice. “The local council took care of it from the outset; we had two refuse lorries on site at all times. We worked in partnership with the Kalavryta Local Council’s Wastewater Treatment Plant. The wastewater was collected in tanks and then treated. We worked with We4all and other sponsors to recycle paper, plastic and glass. ”The people themselves collected and recycled their waste.”
And furthermore: “The team from We4all came round after each concert, collected the scrap metal, which was then recycled and sold, and we donated the proceeds to a centre for vulnerable young people in the Kalavryta area.”
But it’s not just the numbers or the logistics. It’s the audience. “The festival-goers look after those attending for the first time, which also demonstrates the campers” good manners. You often see people giving others things they have left over. Conditions are tougher than in the city, so people draw closer to one another.”
What changes can we expect this year? – The vision for the coming years
This year they will attempt something even more ambitious. “We will be holding a music marathon, where people will arrive on Friday, leave on Monday and enjoy music non-stop. We will give people the chance to climb to the summit of Mount Helmos, at 2,340 metres. The cable car ride up takes just seven minutes. The view is breathtaking.”
Even the ticketing model was examined. “This year we started announcing tickets early, so that people have time to make arrangements. We increased the number to 11,000. It will not increase further. It is a figure that will allow people to have a good time without overburdening the venue. We want this to be the upper limit. We do not want to organise a massive event. We want to create wonderful experiences. If we see huge demand, we will simply organise a second festival.”
They are also looking beyond Greece. “We’re thinking of travelling to similar festivals abroad, so that we can improve each time.”
The aim is clear: “We want to achieve the following: for people not to pay attention to who is singing. We want them to come to the festival knowing that they’ll have a great time.”
And perhaps the most honest aspect of this story is to be found in what Alexis Agrios said at the start: “The first thing we did was to visualise it. Then, to plan it. Which part of the venue we would use, but also what would set us apart in the eyes of the public. We are a mountain festival featuring outdoor activities, leisure and music. We didn’t want people to say, “It’s just a music festival.” We were determined to go ahead with it, regardless of whether we were accepted or not. That was the ethos of the production company. Our shared aim was to entertain people. And in the end, everything turned out even better than we’d expected.”
Source: lifo.gr