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18-676: The festival was usually hosted at the Alexandreio Melathron in Thessaloniki. The three initial contests held in Athens were marked by the participation of important Greek musicians such as Manos Hatzidakis and Mikis Theodorakis , who won first prize two times and one time respectively. The first time the contest took place in Thessaloniki in 1962, it was organized by the Thessaloniki International Fair , in partnership with

36-550: A hub providing services that successfully meet the requirements of exhibitions, conferences and cultural events. Similar trade fairs of the city have occurred regularly since the Byzantine era , attracting traders from all over the Balkans . It has been customary for the country's prime minister to set out his government's policies for each coming year in a speech at the annual Thessaloniki International Trade Fair, and for this reason

54-561: A number of camouflaged anti-dictatorial songs in opposition to the Regime of the Colonels , which was in power since 1967. 1974 saw another wave of songs with hidden political messages, this time inspired by the events that followed the collapse of the Greek dictatorship. The winning song of the 1974 edition implicitly referred to Konstantinos Karamanlis , Prime Minister of Greece following the collapse of

72-597: A practice court, club offices, shops, and a museum dedicated to the Aris basketball club. The arena hosts the home games of Aris Thessaloniki B.C. , a member of the Greek League . The Alexandreion Melathron Nikos Galis Hall indoor arena is located in downtown Thessaloniki, inside the International Trade Fair grounds . Bus lines #2, #7, #8, #10, #14, #27, #31, and #58, running along Egnatia Avenue, stop almost in front of

90-483: A total area of 180,000 sq.m., of which 62,000 sq.m. are indoor exhibition areas, distributed into a complex of 17 pavilions that are functionally designed and interconnected to serve the needs of each event. The exhibition facilities are complemented by conference centres, parking areas, sports and recreational facilities, catering areas, citizen service centres, museums, banks and developmental agency offices. This way, Thessaloniki International Exhibition Centre functions as

108-462: Is an indoor sports arena that is located in Thessaloniki , Greece . It is also often referred to as Palais des Sports (Greek: Παλαί ντε Σπορ). The arena is mainly used to host basketball and volleyball games. The arena's main hall, called Nick Galis Hall, has a permanent seating capacity of 5,138, and a capacity of 6,000 with temporary seating, for basketball games. The arena also contains

126-462: The Athens 2004 Olympic Games . The updates involved reconstruction of all the building's external and internal areas. Apart from what is directly visible to everybody, other works included new electrical and mechanical updates, air-conditioning, and audiovisual facilities. New seats, CCTV , and new lighting were also installed. These updates resulted in a lower permanent seating capacity (5,138 compared to

144-484: The Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation . Additionally, 1965 also saw the introduction of a committee of judges responsible for determining the winning songs, which in previous years were selected through public voting. At the time, the contest was dominated by Greek New Wave in music. The festival of 1972 was marked by two important events. First was that popular Greek singer Tolis Voskopoulos , who

162-562: The Greek Music Association, at the stadium of the city's YMCA . The first contest in Thessaloniki also marked the start of Alkis Steas' career as presenter of the show from 1962 until 1980. The first song to win the Thessaloniki Song Festival was "Alysides" ( Greek : Αλυσίδες , chains ) by Kaiti Belinda. In 1965 the Greek Music Association stopped supporting the event and was replaced by Greece's national broadcaster,

180-519: The arena. Ιn 2020, the new metro station, " Panepistimio ", which is located near to the arena, will open. The arena was designed by the architects P. Gianettos, M. Guyon and T. Jeanblock between 1960 and 1962. It was built in 1966. The structure shares two of the architects with the Palais des Sports de Gerland in Lyon and has many similarities. The building was redeveloped and updated in 2004, in preparation for

198-715: The city and using any means of transportation. With trade fairs and consumer exhibitions held throughout the year at exhibition premises of European specifications, it is the most important exhibition organisation agency in Greece. At the heart of the city's history, adjacent to the Byzantine Museum and the Archaeological Museum, the International Exhibition Centres of TIF HELEXPO attract a wealth of conference events. The TIF HELEXPO Exhibition Centre covers

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216-575: The contest. The contest was discontinued in 1997 due to lack of interest, and was later brought back to life in 2005, this time as a co-operation of the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation , the Thessaloniki International Fair and the Ministry for Macedonia and Thrace . It was discontinued again in 2008. Note: Award later annulled as the song was not original. Alexandreio Melathron Alexandreion Melathron, Nick Galis Hall (since 2013) ( Greek : Αλεξάνδρειον Μέλαθρον, Σάλα Νίκος Γκάλης, από το 2013)

234-464: The dictatorship. In 1977, popular Greek singer Anna Vissi competed at the festival and won first place. 1980 saw the retirement of the festival's original host since 1962, Alkis Steas, and the participation of Cypriot Greek composer Manos Loizos in the contest. In 1981 and 1982 Manos Hatzidakis organised also a song contest festival in Corfu (city) . In 1991 Greek pop star Sakis Rouvas took part in

252-575: The first week of September since 1926, and its opening is traditionally marked by a series of programmatical statements by the Prime Minister of Greece . The 2020 fair was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the first cancellation since WW2 . The International Exhibition & Congress Centre of TIF HELEXPO is located in the YMCA Square in downtown Thessaloniki, with easy access from any location in

270-675: The largest until the year 1985, when the Peace and Friendship Stadium in Athens , was completed and opened to the public. Being part of the Thessaloniki International Fair, the arena also serves for many purposes other than sports. On May 8, 2013, at an event honoring the legendary former Aris' and the Greek National Team's player, Nikos Galis , the Deputy Minister of Culture of Greece, Giannis Ioannidis , announced that

288-528: The main hall of the arena was to be renamed to "Nick Galis Hall". The arena is owned and operated by the Greek Ministry of Culture 's General Secretariat of Sports. Thessaloniki International Fair The Thessaloniki International Fair ( Greek : Διεθνής Έκθεση Θεσσαλονίκης , Diethnis Ekthesi Thessalonikis ), abbreviated TIF (ΔΕΘ), is an annual international exhibition event held in Thessaloniki , Greece's second-largest city. It has been held in

306-547: The previous 6,000) for Alexandreion Arena, which reopened its gates in late 2004. The arena was again updated in 2015. The arena was named after Alexander the Great , the king ( basileus ) of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia . It is also commonly referred to as the " Palais des Sports " (meaning " Sports Palace ", in French ). Under its former names, the arena was the first large indoor basketball arena built in Greece, and remained

324-409: Was one of the favorites to win the contest, was unable to sing once he walked on stage, which resulted in him being denounced by the public. In the 1972 Thessaloniki Song Festival pop band Nostradamos won the best new composer and performer prize with the song "Dos Mou to Heri Sou" (Give Me Your Hand) which became a huge success in Greece during the junta years. Additionally, the contest was marked by

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