31 December 2026 · Athens
New Year’s Eve 2026 in Athens
Athens sees the year out twice over: in the street, with the city’s countdown in Syntagma Square, and at the table, over a long réveillon dinner that runs well past midnight. Here is everything for Thursday 31 December 2026 and the days around it that we could confirm on the venues’ and organisers’ own pages on 12 November 2026.
Updated October 2026
The countdown in Syntagma Square
Every year the City of Athens counts down to the New Year in Syntagma Square, below the Parliament and beside the great Christmas tree, with live music, dance and what the city’s official guide calls its most impressive fireworks show. Entry is open to all. The line-up and times for 31 December 2026 had not been published when we checked; the city announces them in December.
Across town, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center on the bay at Kallithea also holds a countdown with fireworks, and its New Year run sets off at four minutes past midnight. Its 2026 programme was not yet published either.
Our advice: the square fills early and the side streets with it. Come on foot, find your spot by 11pm, and keep the metro for the way home.
Photo Credit
Image courtesy of © ULTIMATE International MediaThis is Athens: New Year’s Eve in Athens Christmas in Athens
Giselle on New Year’s Eve: the Greek National Opera
Photo Credit
Image courtesy of © Jean Housen · CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia CommonsThe most elegant way to begin the night is at the Greek National Opera, in the Stavros Niarchos Hall at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center. On Thursday 31 December at 6.30pm the company dances Giselle, Adam’s Romantic ballet, in a revival by Verónica Villar and Elena Iglesias after Petipa, conducted by José Salazar. It runs 2 hours 10 minutes, so you are out in good time for dinner.
Tickets are €15 to €80, €12 for students and children and €10 for restricted-view seats. Giselle also plays on 20, 22, 24 and 26 December and from 2 to 10 January 2027. The night before, Wednesday 30 December at 7pm, Tchaikovsky’s The Queen of Spades is staged by Stephen Langridge and conducted by Dmitri Jurowski (€15 to €120).
Our advice: book the 31 December Giselle now; it is the one performance in the run with a midnight to follow.
Greek National Opera: Giselle Greek National Opera: The Queen of Spades
New Year at the Megaron, the Athens Concert Hall
The Athens State Orchestra plays New Year’s Eve on Broadway in the Christos Lambrakis Hall on Tuesday 29 and Wednesday 30 December at 8.30pm, conducted by Stathis Soulis, with the sopranos Vassia Zacharopoulou and Dimitra Kotidou, the tenor Yannis Kalyvas and the bass Marios Sarantidis: songs from My Fair Lady, Cabaret, The Phantom of the Opera, Les Misérables and Mamma Mia. Tickets are €16 to €60, concessions €11.
The Viennese New Year follows on Monday 4 January 2027 at 8.30pm, when the Camerata Friends of Music Orchestra plays waltzes, polkas and marches by the Strauss family in the same hall, for about 90 minutes with an interval. Tickets are €10 to €55.
For families, A Strange New Year’s Journey, a 60-minute show with live music for ages 3 to 9, plays in the Megaron’s Giannis Marinos Hall on 28, 29 and 30 December at 3pm and 6pm (€12, €10 reduced).
Megaron: New Year’s Eve on Broadway Megaron: New Year with a Viennese flair Megaron: A Strange New Year’s Journey
Jazz by the sea: Ace Hotel Athens
On the Riviera, Sebastian at Ace Hotel Athens in Glyfada sees out 2026 with Jeepers Creepers, the duo of Elisavet Mitsou on guitar and vocals and Charilaos Pantazis on double bass, playing swing, festive classics and jazz from 9pm to midnight on Thursday 31 December. A set menu is planned; the hotel does not yet print its price. Book a table through OpenTable or by email from the hotel’s page.
On New Year’s Day, Friday 1 January 2027, Sebastian serves a long, slow Recovery Brunch with BAKERMAN from noon.
Ace Hotel Athens: New Year’s Eve jazz Ace Hotel Athens: New Year’s Day brunch
Vasilopita, réveillon and what is still to come
Greek New Year has its own customs. Families and friends sit down to a long réveillon dinner, and cut the vasilopita, a cake with a coin wrapped in foil baked inside: whoever finds it in their slice has good fortune for the year. Children sing the kalanta, the Greek carols, through the neighbourhoods.
When we checked, the Hotel Grande Bretagne, the King George, the Four Seasons Astir Palace, the St George Lycabettus, the NJV Athens Plaza, the Titania, the Electra hotels, the Grand Hyatt and the Hilton Athens had not yet published their New Year’s Eve 2026 galas. We will add them as they are confirmed.
Our advice: the best hotel rooftops and their Acropolis views sell out first. Book dinner early, and a taxi home in advance.
Questions and answers
Are there fireworks in Athens on New Year’s Eve 2026?
The City of Athens holds its countdown each year in Syntagma Square, with live music and fireworks, and the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center holds its own countdown with fireworks. Neither had published its 2026 programme on 12 November 2026; both are usually announced in December.
What is on at the Greek National Opera on New Year’s Eve 2026?
Giselle, in the Stavros Niarchos Hall on Thursday 31 December at 6.30pm, running 2 hours 10 minutes. Tickets are €15 to €80, €12 for students and children.
Is there a New Year’s concert in Athens in 2027?
Yes: the Camerata Friends of Music Orchestra plays Strauss waltzes, polkas and marches at the Megaron, the Athens Concert Hall, on Monday 4 January 2027 at 8.30pm (€10 to €55). The Athens State Orchestra’s New Year’s Eve on Broadway is on 29 and 30 December.
Every event from the organiser’s own page (thisisathens.org, the City of Athens’ official guide; nationalopera.gr; megaron.gr; acehotel.com), checked 12 November 2026. Prices are as each venue prints them. Check before you go.