Flavours, Crafts and Music from East and West Blend at Balkanik Festival in Bucharest

BTA correspondent Martina Gancheva; Diana Dukovska

Balkanik Festival in Bucharest's Uranus district, September 10, 2023 (BTA Photo)

Bucharest,

10.09.2023 15:46

(BTA)

Flavours of cognac, coffee and lavender waft through the air. A woman dressed in Romanian costume shows a group of girls how to spin on a spindle. Another woman weaves a rug on a vertical loom with goat hair and wool as curious children look on. A girl decorates a carafe. A man works a copper pot, while another sculpts pottery pieces. A young man with tattoos offers must for drinking. The noise is mixed with ethnic music. This is the atmosphere at the Balkanik Festival in Bucharest's Uranus district, which is taking place for the 10th time.

Merchants and craftsmen once lived here in old bohemian houses standing on cobbled streets. In the 1980s, communist bulldozers razed everything to the ground to make way for Nicolae Ceausescu's big dreams and his Palace of Parliament - now the second largest administrative building in the world. Only one thing remains from the former Uranus - the water tower. This weekend, it radiates a special light. It is covered in video mapping and draws visitors and residents of Bucharest.

Around it are photo exhibitions, a collage studio, stalls offering all sorts of handmade items, craft workshops, delicious food and a stage where musicians from Romania, Armenia, France, Turkiye, Tunisia, Italy, Belgium and Serbia perform. There are also vending machines from which one can buy a painted souvenir of the event.

"The festival is recognized across Europe. Its mission is to bring East and West closer together in Bucharest by inviting both popular and emerging artists. It offers a fascinating, immersive journey into regional cultures and traditions that come alive on Uranus Street in the old Uranus district," the organizers told BTA.

On the first day, the festival attracted 10,000 visitors. It continues until late on Sunday evening.

The project is co-financed by Bucharest City Hall.

/DD/