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Release Athens marks 10th anniversary with record attendance
August10
Release Athens Festival has concluded its 10th anniversary edition, with organisers reporting close to 300,000 attendees across its 2026 programme – the highest attendance in the festival’s history.
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The anniversary edition featured 17 festival days across June and July, with five sold-out shows. Headliners included Gorillaz, Jean-Michel Jarre, Moby and two 30-year reunion performances by Greek hip-hop group Imiskoumbria.
Other major international artists appearing during the series included David Byrne, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Limp Bizkit, The Offspring, Three Days Grace, Megadeth, Pantera, Sabaton, Helloween, Pet Shop Boys and Thievery Corporation, alongside a number of Greek acts.
Several of the 2026 performances also generated significant activity on social media, with footage from Limp Bizkit’s show among the performances widely circulated online.
A decade of growth
Release Athens was launched in 2016 and has developed into one of Greece`s largest annual international concert series. It has traditionally taken place at Plateia Nerou – Water Plaza – on the Athens waterfront, using a multi-day format spread across several weeks rather than operating as a conventional consecutive-day festival.
The festival has expanded substantially during the past decade. More than 130,000 people attended the 2025 edition, while the main Water Plaza site has a capacity of around 25,000. Previous editions have featured artists including Arctic Monkeys, The Prodigy, Kylie Minogue, Massive Attack, Liam Gallagher, Pulp, Duran Duran and Iggy Pop.
The 2026 programme also continued Release Athens` partnership with SNF Nostos, with Gorillaz, David Byrne and Jean-Michel Jarre appearing as part of the collaboration.
Fuzz Productions behind festival
Release Athens was founded by the team around Athens-based promoter Fuzz Productions, which remains involved in the festival`s ownership and operation.
Fuzz Productions operates across concert promotion, festivals and venues in Greece. Its venue portfolio includes Fuzz Club and Floyd Live in Athens, alongside its work promoting international touring artists in the Greek market.
The record 2026 edition also marks the end of an era for Release Athens at Water Plaza. The festival has announced plans to move to a new and larger venue from 2027, opening the next phase of its development after ten editions at the Athens waterfront site.
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