The flower children return to Matala

Today many of them are lawyers, doctors, university teachers, pensioners. This weekend the hippies generation returns to Matala, the place where they could enjoy love, act freely and express themselves creatively. The caves of Matala will host once more the old hippies in this three day festival-meeting for all the flower children. Arn Strohmeyer, the German writer who inspired this historical gathering after 44 years and actually lived in one of the Matala caves himself, is now following a more conventional life. Today, he looks back in 1967 and recalls being a student and a former inhabitant of a cave in Matala, where he lived a lazy life and hanged out with the local fishermen and the other hippies. The caves that were once used as home and shelter for the hippies will become alive again. This three day meeting will include photograph exhibitions, concerts and fireworks. Certainly though, not only the hippies have changed but Matala too. The once small fishing village nowadays receives about 5,000 visitors every summer, attracted by the mysterious past, the natural beauty and the close distance to Phaestos. This weekend, Matala is expected to get a huge tourist publicity following the visit of the hippies whereas according to hotel managers, all rooms are filled. The camping site will be free for the campers while tourist agencies offer daily packages to Matala from Northern Crete and Athens.