Midsummeraa‚¬a„¢s Day celebrated at Minovici Museums, this evening

Newsroom 23/06/2011 | 12:47

Midsummer’s Day will be marked in the orchard of Bucharest’s Minovici Museums, on the night of June 23. On the occasion, art and design exhibitions as well as various artistic performances will take place.

The latter will feature dancer and choreographer Razvan Mazilu, ballerina Monica Petrica, musician Cornelia Tihon, actress Brandusa Casandra Mircea, dancer and choreographer Ioana Macarie, actor Silviu Biris, actor Constantin Florescu and the Sound Choral Group, conducted by Voicu Popescu.

The photo exhibitions will showcase the works of Luiza Zamora, Flavia Lupu and Serban Bonciocat. There will also be two fashion presentations, by Thea Costa and Elena Perseil.

“Sanzienele” or “Dragaica”, the Romanian equivalent of Midsummer’s Day, is celebrated on June 24 and is said to coincide with the celebration of the summer solstice. In local folklore, on the night of Midsummer’s Day, strange phenomena were reported to happen to people wandering the forests alone at night, such as the skies opening.

The term Sanziene is also the name of the Midsummer’s Day fairies. As well as these traditional Midsummer fairies, who make a lot of mischief, the other meaning is a reminder of the scented flowers of Lady’s Bedstraw, of which young girls make wreaths and boys cross-shaped braids. In another tradition on Sinziene’s night, unmarried girls cut the petals of a thistle and keep it in a glass of water. It is said that the faster the petals grow back on the flower, the bigger the girl’s chances of marrying the man she loves.