Arthur Donnot

Now in its eleventh edition, Fête de l’Olivier stages dialogues between Arab and Mediterranean musical traditions and contemporary creation. The program gathers voices and instrumentalists such as Yasmine Hamdan, Trio Joubran and Retsina Cola, weaving intimate and powerful moments. Artists alternate between rooted repertoires and experimental approaches, inviting attentive listening and emotional resonance. The festival highlights improvisation, lyrical storytelling and cross-cultural collaboration.

Retsina Cola channels the raw intimacy of rebetiko, a Greek urban music born from Asia Minor exile. The young quartet, composed of Alexios Koutsourelis (bouzouki and vocals), Giorgos Goudousakis (guitar and vocals), Melina Vasiliki Paraskevopoulou (percussion and vocals) and Ioannis Christakopoulos (accordion and vocals), blends plaintive melodies, driving rhythms and close vocal interplay. Their repertoire navigates longing, thwarted love and social struggle, stirred by oriental spices and smoky textures that evoke tavern nights and collective memory.