EUROPAfest 2016 brings together jazz, blues, pop and classic music in Romania

The only European festival to bring together four musical genres (jazz, blues, pop and classic), EUROPAfest will reunite between 12-21 May 2016 around 300 artists from 43 European countries, but also from the United States, Australia, Venezuela, Hong Kong and Japan, according to an official press release. For many of the artists, this will be their first visit to Romania.

The agenda for the 10 days of festival includes concerts, international competitions, recitals, jam sessions, autograph sessions, workshops, with everything reaching its peak on the 21st of May when the Gala Concert will take place. The events will be held in various locations in Bucharest and Sibiu so that more than one can happen at the same time, and among the chosen venues are the Odeon Theatre, the Teatrelli hall, the Auditorium hall – Cervantes Institute, the Italian Institute, the Arcub Gabroveni hall, Ibis Caffe L’Estaminet and Athenee Palace Hilton.

In the 23 years that the EUROPAfest has been organised, “we’ve intentionally chosen to place emphasis on content, on diversity, on the new wave of artists and less on image, on the beautiful packaging that sells. I think we have a public hungry for beauty, for quality things, who appreciate and authentic festival, and I’m glad to see that the number of spectators is growing exponentially year to year,” said Luigi Gageos, director of the festival.

During the 10 days, ten events will take place, starting with the Opening Gala Concert in Sibiu and Bucharest on May 12, then the Bucharest International Jazz Competition and the Jeunesses International Piano Competition Dinu Lipatti between May 14-21 and the Caffe Festival Ibis between May 13-20, followed by master classes and workshops between May 17-20, and finally the EUROPAfest Gala on May 21.

The EURPAfest is the first event to be awarded the High Patronage (“Inaltul Patronaj”) distinction by the Romanian Royal House. In 2015, the festival also obtained the EFFE (Europe’s Finest Festivals) title awarded by the European Commission and the European Parliament.