Popular Greek rock group C:Real (website, myspace) will be performing live at the Makrigialos Beach Party on August 4th. Supported by Nemionis, with sets by DJ's Margarita Droutsa, Rude Boy, Pro, and Crouse. The evening starts at 17:00, at Makrigialos Harbour.

Images from the opening night of the Casa dei Mezzo Musical Festival, Makrigialos, June 24th 2010.

Greece will cover the extra costs for any tourists stranded in the country as a result of industrial action or natural disaster, according to a report on the BBC website. "We are guaranteeing to pay any extra room and board any visitor in Greece pays even if stuck here because of a volcano in Iceland" said Culture and Tourism Minister Pavlos Geroulanos. The move is part of an effort to improve an image that has been damaged by strikes and protests over government austerity measures, and attract visitors back to a country which was ranked 2nd most competitively priced holiday destination in a recent survey.

In-resort costs are 25% more economical in Greece than in Turkey, according to research by Skyscanner. The flight comparison search engine surveyed over 1500 UK consumers, asking them to rank 30 popular destinations in order of perceived expense. Although consumers believe that Greece was the 19th most expensive destination, actual costs, both with and without flight costs, mean that Greece in fact ranks as the 2nd most competetively priced destination overall. Recent negative publicity generated by the financial crisis and industrial action appear to have resulted in prices being slashed, and "...from a value perspective..." for holidays in Greece, this "...really is an extremely good time to go."

Cheap flight search engine Skyscanner has named Crete as one of the best bargain island breaks of the week. Commenting that "Greece has slashed its prices in an effort to bring back the tourists, so now is a great time to bag a bargain", it lists return flights from Gatwick, Birmingham, and Manchester at £91, £95, and £99 respectively. To book your cheap flight to Crete, see our travel page, where you can select your preferred departure airport in the UK or the rest of Europe from our interactive Skyscanner map, and find the cheapest flights for the month, or even the year.

The program for the Casa dei Mezzo Music Festival, which runs from Thursday 24th June until Tuesday 29th June, has now been published. The festival features an international cast of musicians performing the works of such composers as Chopin, Schumann, Bach, Beethoven, to name but a few. The full program in PDF format can be downloaded here.

For more information about the festival see the festival web site.

"The Casa dei Mezzo Music Festival is a great arena for sharing musical experiences between high level classical musicians from Greece and many other countries and is always thoroughly enjoyed by audiences of visitors and Cretans alike."* This year's festival begins Thursday 24th June, and features the music of, amongst others, Schumann, Chopin, Berlioz, Rachmaninov, and Beethoven, performed by an international line-up of artists. The festival concludes Tuesday 29th June. "Everyone involved in making the 'Casa dei Mezzo Music Festival' come to life each year..." writes festival organiser Gunnar Strømsholm "...is now really looking forward to opening the main doors of Villa Casa dei Mezzo to let the public take their seats, as it's our public we're here to entertain, and in the best possible way we know how." For more details see the festival web site.

* Steinar Larsen, Managing Director, The Trondheim Soloists, commenting on the 2009 Casa dei Mezzo Music Festival

South East Crete Holidays, in association with maCreteland Tours of Makrigialos, is pleased to announce that you can now book selected holiday accommodation in Makrigialos online. We currently offer 11 properties, ranging from studios priced from €20 per night to a luxurious villa priced from €660+ per night, with more properties coming online daily. The association with maCreteland Tours allows us to offer the convenience of online booking, supported by a back office staff of multi-lingual personnel.

In a short article titled Travel Focus on Crete, published by the flight comparison web site Cheapflights.co.uk, Makrigialos is named as one of the top 5 things to do in Crete. The resort is praised because it is "...perfectly designed by nature with shallow waters that are ideal for the little ones." Top spot is awarded to a "...stunning coastal drive along the north-east of Crete" in which the visitor can "escape the hustle and bustle of more touristy areas...", an area which is easily reached as a day trip from Makrigialos.

Makrigialos continues to rate well with visitors this year, according to the reviews published since the season ended. Although small in number, the reviews are unanimous in their approval of both accommodation and restaurants. For restaurants, Porphyra ("Food is excellent") and Gabbiano ("Fantastic food") have now joined Stratos on the TripAdvisor review pages, each collecting a 5 out of 5 review. For accommodation, reviewers' favourites Maria Tsanakalioti Apartments ("A dream come true") and Asteria Studios ("A piece of heaven on earth") both expanded their impressive collection of high-scoring reviews.

For more information on visitor reviews published during the season, see our previous news item.

If you want to review your Makrigialos holiday, you can do so right here, in the South East Crete Holidays Guestbook. If you have already written a review elsewhere on the internet, you can simply add a brief introduction and link to it from the guestbook.