Festival celebrates fiery Balkans culture

Do you know what the cultures of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, and the European Turkey have in common? The answers can be found at the Balkanik Festival.

A celebration of the new Balkan spirit, tradition and authenticity through music, dance and a lot of joy will start on September 21 in the Uranus Garden (144 Uranus Street, between George Cosbuc Flower Market and The Ark). The Balkanika Festival is the first event showcasing Balkan music and culture in Romania, and at its center is humanity, multiculturalism and expression in its purest form.

According to the festival’s organizers, interest in Balkan music has increased in recent years, with the fact that the first run attracted some 5,500 people evidence of that. This second edition of Balkanika Festival will last three days and three nights, with the chief draw music by top artists of international stature from Serbia, Hungary, Turkey, Bulgaria and Romania. Four bands will play at the Balkanika Festival, more than last year, and by popular demand Baba Zula will be back on stage.

Baba Zula,Turkey

Mixing oriental instruments such as the darbuka, electric saz, and spoons with electronics and modern approaches, Baba Zula creates sounds that have been defined as “space sound of Istanbul”, “Oriental Dub” and “contemporary Folk Istanbul”. Their music was born inIstanbuland influenced by memories of the city symbolically passed from generation to generation. Baba Zula have composed various works for movies and appeared in the documentary “Crossing the Bridge” – The Sound of Istanbul from director Fatih Akin, which was included in the official selection at Cannes in 2005.

Boban and Marko Markovic Orchestra, Serbia

This ensemble of wind musicians and percussionists is internationally recognized as the best band inSerbiasince the 1980s, and has won numerous international awards. Besides their 13 albums and hundreds of concerts, the orchestra has performed in two of Emir Kusturica’s films, “Underground”, awarded the Palme d’Or atCannes1995, and “Arizona Dream”, winner of the Golden Bear at the Berlinale 1993.

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Fanfare Shavale from Zece Prajini, Romania

Romanian outfit Fanfare Shavale come from a village whose name translates as Ten Poles, in the center of Moldova, which has the enviable reputation of having the biggest number of bands in the country, with every person knowing how to play at least one musical instrument. Since 1999, the 10 members of Fanfare Shavale have been promoting traditional Romanian and Romani music worldwide.

Nedim Nalbantoglu & The Balkan Messengers, Turkey&Bulgaria

Nedim Nalbantoglu was born inTurkeyin 1966. He spent 11 years studying at The Conservatory and then continued his studies at the Ecole Normale Supérieure de Musique inParis. The performer has collaborated with famous musicians such as violinist Tatyana Russian Affanasiev Ivo Papasov, Devi Arlih and Bruno L’huissiev, Johnny Griffin and Tooths Thielemans. Nalbantoglu, known inFranceas “the man who gives life to and makes the violin speak”, is a virtuoso classical musician, playing jazz, Balkan, Turkish and Indian. He has released over 25 albums. To celebrate multiculturalism and friendship betweenBulgariaandTurkey, in the Balkanika Festival Nalbantoglu will take to the stage with Bulgarians Nesho Neshev, Nikolai Delchev and Salif Ali.

More than music

Crispus – The Art of Fire

Formed in Sibiu in 2003, the band has turned playing with fire into a real art, and the result is performances that combine pyrotechnics with acrobatics, creating unique visual effects. The band holds a world record for blowing flames.

The Last Transhumance Photography Exhibition

Dragos Lumpan’s photo exhibition is the result of five years of research, six countries and 40,000 km traveled, 100,000 photos, 70 hours of video and 100 hours of audio recordings about the disappearance of a traditional lifestyle, all transformed into a visual documentary.

The artist puts his project down to “curiosity” while traveling by car and train. “I saw flocks of sheep and I was curious to know something about their shepherds. What is the lifestyle of a shepherd? Where do they sleep, what do they eat, what do they do all day, all year? They are definitely in another world and in another time, in a quasi-cosmic calendar,” Lumpan added.

Festival tickets

Tickets can be purchased from Eventim network and MyTicket.

Advance prices

One day: RON 35

Two days: RON 50

Three days: RON 85

On the door

One day:  RON 45

Two days: RON 60

Three days: RON 95

Fair opens: 14.00

Access to concerts: 18.00

Oana Vasiliu