ZAGAR draws its music from the common core of traditional and rock music: spontaneity, improvisation, and intense rhythmic and melodic repetition that leads to collective ecstasy. This is where traditional celebrations and rock music converge, united by a common purpose: revelry, connection, and the liberation of experience and the body.
With a gaida, bass, drums, daouli, and other traditional percussion instruments, ZAGAR perform traditional Greek and Balkan pieces, along with their own compositions, within a more contemporary soundscape. The common thread is the raw quality of the sound, as well as the sensitivity and folk spirit inherent in these genres. The music breathes with life, leaving room for improvisation and intensity, encouraging voices and bodies to participate, act, and influence the shared experience. In this way, the energy of the motifs, the repetitive rhythm, and the lively interaction among the musicians create an open, participatory space, where the live performance unfolds differently each time, both for the musicians themselves and for the audience.
At the center is the concept of community as synthesis, collaboration, and coexistence—as a shared rhythm: a space-time where generations, identities, and experiences coexist. Through familiar soundscapes, the festival itself—as a process—gives rise to interactions and relationships that, whether as an echo from the past or as a need in the present, are generally experienced communally and collectively: spaces where people come together, sharing rhythm, sweat, and glances, far from the logic and norms that distance us from our senses—even if only for as long as the celebration lasts. There are no divisions there, only participation—through music, song, and dance.
Gaida/Vocals: Dimitris Sakavalas
Vocals: Anna Papanikolaou
Drums: Petros Tsambarlis
Bass/Vocals: Heracles Zachos
