The Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) celebrated the anniversary of its founding, the 3rd of September, with a Cretan-style party in Heraklion on the island of Crete on Thursday evening, featuring lyre music, continuous dancing and a drone display over the crowd. Party leader Nikos Androulakis had set out to bring "all of PASOK" back into the square, and after his speech, members of parliament and officials from every current within the party followed him into the dancing to familiar rhythms.
The celebration opened and closed with the songs "Kalimera Ilie" (Good Morning Sun) and "Carmina Burana," staged in Eleftherias Square, the largest square in Heraklion. The location carries history for PASOK: in the party's early years, founder Andreas Papandreou held rallies there that packed the square with supporters. Androulakis, who has led PASOK since December 2021, has used the anniversary in past years to try to rally the party's competing factions around him.
Drones mark the party's 52nd year
Drones made brief passes over the sky above the square during the event, marking the 52 years since PASOK's founding. The large turnout and the energy of the crowd excited the event's organisers and kept the celebration going late into the night.
The gathering came during what the party has described as a difficult period. PASOK's first-place finish in the last European Parliament elections in Heraklion and Lasithi, together with strong results in Rethymno and Chania, formed the basis for what was framed as a dynamic relaunch, coming shortly before the Thessaloniki International Fair and the sharpening of an extended pre-election period.
Convoys of cars and tractors
People of all generations travelled to Heraklion's central square in a convoy of cars and tractors from the surrounding areas. Androulakis, PASOK's MPs and members of the party's Political Council had spent the morning touring the city's streets, inviting residents to celebrate the 3rd of September together. When "Kalimera Ilie" rang out on the Cretan lyre, it served as the signal for PASOK's supporters, identified with the party's green colour, to gather in front of the stage and across the square.
MP Nikolas Farantouris sang loudly alongside Cretan musicians including Nikos Gonianakis. Larissa MP Litsa Liakouli and deputy press spokesperson Olga Markogiannaki, who has Cretan family roots despite coming from Kozani, joined the dancing almost immediately. Other officials from the party's Athens headquarters on Charilaou Trikoupi Street followed, dancing alongside PASOK's own officials and supporters who had come from across Crete.
Androulakis family and a birthday cake
Androulakis's parents, Popi and Marinos, and his sister Maria were at the celebration from the start, thanking attendees for their turnout and enthusiasm on the day. The date also happened to be the birthday of Eleni Vatsina, PASOK's MP for Heraklion, who blew out candles on a cake that appeared in the middle of the dancing.
Veteran officials in attendance
Long-serving PASOK figures who have travelled widely for the party's events over the decades were on hand, recalling moments from gatherings past. Among them were Kostas Skandalidis, Michalis Karchimakis and Petros Lambrou, who in recent weeks have been meeting almost daily at the party's Charilaou Trikoupi headquarters.
Also present were PASOK's MPs and senior officials, including Anna Diamantopoulou, Charis Doukas, Pavlos Geroulanos, Manolis Christodoulakis, Michalis Katrinis, Paris Koukoulopoulos, Lefteris Karchimakis and the regional governor of Crete, Stavros Arnaoutakis. Crete's PASOK MPs attended as well, with the exception of the celebrating Vatsina and MPs Fragkiskos Parasyris and Katerina Spyridaki. Officials from the island's outlying mountain districts, from Lasithi to Chania, also took part.
