Social-distancing Greek style: shimmy and sing from your car

ATHENS (Reuters) – Hundreds of Greeks danced and sang from their cars at a drive-in music concert, the first such event since the country banned mass gatherings to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

Emerging from sunroofs or sitting on the hood of vehicles parked at designated slots in a soccer stadium in the Athens seaside suburb of Glyfada on Tuesday night, spectators enjoyed a free performance by popular Greek singer Natasa Theodoridou.

“I have never done something like this before, it’s a nice experience, a new experience,” spectator Zoe Georgiou told Reuters before the concert.

The 300 car positions were raffled off from more than 7,000 applications in a lottery. The event was organised by the municipality of Glyfada and was aimed at bringing joy to residents after weeks in lockdown, the mayor said.

“This is an example to all of us that nothing stops, we can do everything if we have patience and positive thoughts,” said Theodoridou on stage.

Greece imposed the lockdown in March and started easing restrictions on May 4. Live concerts, popular during the summer season, are expected to resume from July 15.

(Reporting by Deborah Kyvrikosaios and Vassilis Triandafyllou; Writing by Renee Maltezou; Editing by Janet Lawrence)