Greek artist Vangelis Theodoropoulos to direct Athens Festiv

ATHENS, April 4 (Xinhua) -- Greek director Vangelis Theodoropoulos was appointed on Monday by the Culture Ministry at the post of the artistic director of the annual Athens and Epidavros Festival, the country's most prestigious cultural festival since 1955.

Theodoropoulos takes over after the resignation from the post of Belgian multidisciplinary artist Jan Fabre last Saturday who said he could not offer his services in a "hostile artistic environment."

Fabre took office in February with the promise to make the festival more international during his three-year tenure. However, his choice to start with a tribute to Belgium this summer which would cover the 80 percent of performances, triggered fierce reactions by Greek artists.

The festival traditionally opens in late May or early June in Athens and in July and August moves to the ancient theater of Epidavros in the Peloponnese peninsula in southern Greece.

The new artistic director told Greek national news agency AMNA that he plans to work hard and quickly to build up a new program which will include several Greek productions.