Music

Anakate Ntounia – Mixing Crete and Africa in a Lyrical Dance

Vibrant fusion of Cretan and West African traditions via violin and traditional instruments

Anakate Ntounia weave Cretan rural melody with West African rhythm, the kologo lute and stamna in conversation with violin, until the whole room is singing and dancing along. It all unfolds by candlelight inside the historic stone church of Vlatos, a mountain village wrapped in olive groves in western Crete, where centuries-old walls give barely fifty unamplified seats a rare, natural warmth: no big stage, no crowd, just the music and the night. This is one of the fourteen intimate Sunday concerts of Vlatos Jazz 2026, which runs from 28 June to 27 September, and a small bar pours the festival's own bottled wine, tsikoudia and Charma beer alongside fresh pork souvlaki and Cretan village salad, before the show and again at the interval. There are only about fifty seats, so book ahead.