At a modest ceremony on Saturday 4th August 2018 at the Town Hall of Ermioni, and in the presence of the President of the Hellenic Republic, Prokopios Pavlopoulos, the very first 'Marianna V. Vardinoyannis Cultural Awards' were presented.  The Municipality of Ermionida, recognising the vast contribution of the UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador Mrs Marianna V. Vardinoyannis both to Culture as well as Humanity, decided to establish this annual tradition starting this year whereby persons or institutions will be honoured who, through their activities, have contributed to the promotion Culture at international, national and local level.  Marianna V. Vardioyannis was born in Ermioni and has been a great patron and benefactor to the local development of education and culture in Ermioni and Ermionida. 

The 'Marianna V. Vardinoyannis Cultural Award for 2018 was awarded to the internationally renowned archaeologist and Professor of Archaeology at the University of Crete, Nikolaos Stampoulides.  An award also went to the 'Ermioni Association' for its contribution to showcasing the traditions and culture of Ermioni.  The awards were presented by the President of the Republic who in his speech, spoke of a particularly important initiative whose goals is to defend our culture "Especially in current critical and difficult times of man's great tribulation, not only in our country but also internationally, the protection of Culture, and especially our own, Greek Culture, represents an outstanding duty".  Before the ceremony, a minute's silence was observed in memory of the 102 victims of the recent deadly fire in Mati.