welcome to NowHeraklion lifestyle events and news for people everywhere with a passion for Heraklion the vibrant capital city of Crete, Greece

Welcome to NowHeraklion - created by people who love Heraklion, for people who love Heraklion, the capital city of Crete, Greece. Thanks for your visit and enjoy our site!



Free Film Screenings	Photo Exhibition Extended	The Descendants
For the second year running, ΚΕΣΑΝ (Substance Abuse Prevention Centre), in collaboration with ΝΕΚΛΗ (New Heraklion Film Club) and the School Activities Office of Primary & Secondary Education of Heraklion, are organising Free Movie Screenings most Thursdays at "Androgeo", in an attempt to use film "as an innovative tool to inspire the community". The program (until April) is excellent, check out the next film here.	Due to popular demand, our Photo Contest Exhibition will remain open for a few more days! Enjoy a delicious fresh coffee or a cool beer while browsing the pictures on display in the lounge upstairs at the Avant Garde Café-Bar, Heraklion. The 12 photos on display were chosen by a panel of judges from all those submitted in our contest just before Christmas. See more about the show here and more about the exhibition here.	George Clooney's latest turn as a husband and father whose life is thrown into turmoil following an accident suffered by his wife is tipped to see him win his second Oscar for The Descendants. Clooney is supported by Shailene Woodley as his rebellious teenage daughter and there is also a return to the big screen of writer & director Alexander Payne. Now screening at the Odeon Talos Plaza, click here for show-times.



Odysseas Elytis	NowHeraklion on Facebook	The Minoistas
An exhibition celebrating the work of poet and Nobel Prize for Literature winner Odysseas Elytis continues at the Historical Museum of Crete, Heraklion. In 1935 Elytis (1911-1966) published his first poem in the journal 'New Letters' (Νέα Γράμματα) and this first work, considered distinctively earthy and original, helped in launching a new era of Greek poetry and its subsequent reform following the Second World War. Details of the exhibition (until May 2012) here.	In addition to our website, we also have a popular Facebook Page which we update daily with news and events. We also occasionally post photo-albums by our friends on Facebook and with the kind permission of Michael Kapsalis, we've recently posted a selection of some of our favourite photos by this talented Heraklion photographer. To see his album 'GALLERY #8' and others, follow us on Facebook today - just click here and then hit the "like" button!	The Minoistas are a group of Heraklion residents who care about their city and want to do something to help it. They want a city that is more attractive, more efficient, with better public transport, more green spaces, cycle lanes and less litter. Their activities have included brightening up the Agia Triada area and tree planting around the Venetian Walls of Heraklion. The group is open to anyone who wishes to join. More on their website and follow them on Facebook.

Critical Mass Heraklion

If you want some exercise and some fun without damaging the environment, why not join one of the cycle rides of Critical Mass Heraklion? Critical Mass is a cycling event typically held on the last Friday of every month in over 300 cities around the world. The ride was originally founded in 1992 in San Francisco. It basically involves meeting at a set location and time and travelling as a group through city or town streets on bikes. Some bigger scale events as in Budapest, Hungary, have an activist group formed around it, organising the rides and communicating the desires and problems of the cyclists to the city council. Inspired by the international movement, 5 cyclists started their own ride here in Heraklion in 2008. The 5 became 50, then 500, and now there are roughly 1400 members of the group, although of course not all of them are present at any one event! Their ages range from 2 (helped out by parents!) to 72 and as there is no formalised structure, each member has an equal say in the organisation of events. There are monthly rides and weekly rides. In winter, the monthly rides take place on the last Friday of every month starting from Lion Square at 6pm; in summer, it’s every last Saturday starting at midday. The weekly rides are on Wednesdays and start from Hania Gate (Hanioporta) at 6pm.
However, that’s not the end of it. The aim of the group is to make more people aware of the benefits of a bike not only as a means of transport within the crowded streets of the town, but as a means of recreation and improving the quality of life. To that end, as part of the bicycle festivals (three to date) they organise seminars on cycle safety, hold cycle repair workshops, sell second-hand bikes and biking accessories and even organise concerts. Seminars on safe bike riding are also being held in schools, and there have been clean-ups at beaches and other parts of the town and surrounding areas as part of their environmental awareness campaign.
So how about it? All you need to do is get on your bike! For more information, visit the group’s Facebook page. And many thanks to member Stelios Papadogiannakis for the information.