What’s on this weekend

Open Mic

Before the weekend fun begins, an open mic night takes place in Larnaca this Friday. KENO Publications brings another edition of The Openest Mic with the theme this time, Empty Your Spring Bags! Performers and audiences will gather at StArt Café at 7.30pm to enjoy a line-up of performers sharing works inspired by the season of spring and the cycles of the natural world. Poems, prose, fiction, real stories, songs and other genres are welcome to take the floor. Drop in or pre-register if you want to take part.

Bazaars

Two bazaars will take place in Nicosia and Oroklini. Hosted at Prozak’s Common Room in Nicosia, the Spring/Summer Clothing Bazaar will be a two-day sale of second-hand and vintage clothes, items and accessories. The bazaar will open on Friday at 5pm until 9pm and continue on Saturday from 11am to 8pm.

The Restolake Restaurant in Oroklini will host the Lakeside Market on Sunday from 10am to 2pm, featuring all kinds of vendors displaying their handmade and homemade products.

Vinyl and record fairs

For more browsing, the Scala Vinyl Fair III will be on in Larnaca this Saturday from 12pm onwards at Sunmoon Creative Space. Celebrating independent music and vinyl culture, the fair invites vinyl enthusiasts, collectors and music lovers to buy, sell, trade or swap records as well as CDs, cassettes, speakers and turntables. DJs DJohn, DJ S13 and other special guests will play vinyl sets throughout the day while Pepper Addict cooks pizzas and Stavris prepares burgers.

In downtown Nicosia, Desert Island Records and Barking Cats Radio team up this Saturday to celebrate the upcoming Record Store Day 2026. From 12pm onwards, visitors will be able to shop and browse the record store’s hundreds of vinyl records, enjoy music as the event turns into a street party and savour Omni Eat’s bites. Coffee, soft drinks and alcoholic beverages will also be served throughout the day, adding to the celebrations.

Exhibitions

Two new exhibitions open in the coming days. In Nicosia, the Between Imagination and Hope exhibition opens on Friday featuring the works of two Cypriot artists, Nurtane Karagil and Mariandrie and a German artist, Sophie Utikal. Part of the KunstRaumGoethe programme of the Goethe-Institut Cyprus, where the showcase takes place, it addresses the urgency and possibilities of collaboration and connection in an increasingly fragmented world. It features drawings, textile works and objects.

Running until June 5, a parallel programme with screenings and discussions, guided tours, artist talks and workshops will accompany the exhibition.

In Athienou, Miss Funky Natty returns to her home village to present one-day audio-visual exhibition The Becoming. On Sunday, the artist will share her journey through her collections, as curated by Andreas Kadis.

Live music

This weekend’s live music performances include the Alessandro Carbonare Clarinet Trio on Friday night at The Shoe Factory in Nicosia. Joined by Luca Cipriano and Giuseppe Muscogiuri, Carbonare will present a fascinating repertoire for three clarinets and basset horns, performing works by Mozart, Bellafronte, Corea and others.

In the charming village of Lefkara, the Agora Hotel brings back its live music nights this Saturday, offering dinner and a soulful performance by the Chara Miller Trio and Mark Popov at 7.30pm. Soul, jazz and funk will also sound in downtown Nicosia this Saturday as The Gandalfinis perform a groovy set at Sarah’s Jazz Club. Their upcoming set is a chance to meet the five-piece band whose name is a playful fusion of James Gandolfini’s character from The Sopranos and the wizard Gandalf from The Lord of the Rings.

Another performance with a play on words is AfuriKo, an African-infused jazz duo that is set to perform at Paphos’ Technopolis 20 on Sunday at 7pm. AfuriKo is a Japanese portmanteau word combining Afurika and the suffix -ko, which means child, as percussionist Akiko Horii and pianist Jim Funnell blend improvisational jazz with African drums.

Other events this weekend include the Travel Expo Cyprus, happening at the Cyprus State Fair in Nicosia on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, where all things travel (packages, insurance, trips and trends) will be shared.

At the AKORA Street Food Party in old Nicosia on Saturday night, burgers, fries, souvlaki, beers and cocktails will add an upbeat mode to the city’s nightlife, while in Kampos-Tsakistra, Sakura Park celebrates the Japanese cherry tree blossom with the Spring Veil in Kampos Festival this Saturday.

Take your pick, there is certainly more than plenty to see, do and enjoy this weekend in Cyprus!

The Openest Mic

Theme: Empty Your Spring Bags!. By KENO Publications. April 17. StArt Café, Larnaca. 7.30pm. void_keno@protonmail.com

Spring/Summer Clothing Bazaar

Two-day second-hand bazaar. April 17-18. Friday: 5pm-9pm. Saturday: 11am-8pm

Lakeside Market

Market with handmade and homemade products. April 19. Restolake Restaurant, Oroklini. 10am-2pm

Scala Vinyl Fair III

Annual vinyl fair with DJs, street food and records. April 18. Sunmoon Creative Space, Larnaca. 12pm onwards. Tel: 24-400921

Record Store Day 2026

Celebration with reconds-browsing, street food, radio DJs, drinks and more. April 18. Desert Island Records, Nicosia. 12pm onwards

The Becoming

Exhibition by Miss Funky Natty, curated by Andreas Kadis. April 19. Athieno, Athienou. 5pm-10pm. Free admission

Between Imagination and Hope

Exhibition with artists Mariandrie and Nurtane Karagil from Cyprus, and Sophie Utikal from Germany. Until June 5. Goethe-Institut Cyprus, Nicosia. www.goethe.de/cyprus/KunstRaumGoethe

Alessandro Carbonare Clarinet Trio

Concert with Alessandro Carbonare, Luca Cipriano and Giuseppe Muscogiuri. April 17. The Shoe Factory, Nicosia. 8.30pm. €20-25. www.pharosartsfoundation.org Tel: 22-663871

Chara Miller Trio and Mark Popov

Live soulful music. April 18. Agora Hotel, Lefkara. 7.30pm. €10. www.theagorahotel.com

The Gandalfinis

Live soul, jazz and funk by five-piece band. April 18. Sarah’s Jazz Club, Nicosia. 9.30pm. €15. Tel: 95-147711

AfuriKo

Live performance by duo blending jazz improvisation with African drumming. By Akiko Horii and Jim Funnell. April 19. Technopolis 20, Paphos. 7pm. €15. Tel: 7000-2420. www.technopolis20.com

Travel Expo Cyprus

Travel fair with tourism boards, airlines, tour operators and more. April 17-19. Cyprus State Fair, Nicosia. Friday: 4pm-10pm. Saturday-Sunday: 3pm-9pm. €4. https://www.travelexpocyprus.com/

AKORA Street Food Party

Street food, cocktails, beers and a DJ. April 18. May 2, 16 and 30. June 13 and 27. Municipality Square, Nicosia. 7pm-12am

Spring Veil in Kampos – Blossom Festival

Japanese cherry blossoms festival with traditional Japanese and Cypriot activities. April 18. 11am. Tel: 22-942450

Reaping the Rewards

Katie Richards shares herbal recipes, tea blends and treats. April 19. Episkopi Environmental Information Centre, Paphos. 11.30am. In English. €8. www.epeicentre.com/contact. Tel: 26-642234