Theoretically speaking, the second edition of the Festival of Romanian Culture is over.
Practically, it’s not really over – it’s time to draw the line, to write our reports, to catch our breath, put order in pictures and in the (still) fresh memories, and to think about the third edition. In the meantime, we have a full month ahead of us: confereneces, book releases (in May, Warsaw hosts the International Bookfair), movie nights. Anyway, getting back to what I was saying writing earlier, the Festival is over, after an intense and tiring week. Tiring in that particular way, in which the things you do with pleasure drain your energy, but turn out to be sometimes even better than expected.
I don’t know how others feel about this, but I’m in a Sneaker-Pimps-After-Every-Party-I-Die mood. Maybe because only now things are beginning to calm down. Most likely, it won’t be for long, next week we’re back in business, full speed ahead. We’ll obviously keep you updated, and the invitation is still open (for all our events, no matter in which Polish city).
But since this is a good moment for conclusions-order-denouement, here’s a review, for the sake of an adequate closure:
an encouraging and enthusiastic burst of applause after the opening concert of Balanescu Quartet
a club packed with people, dancing their night away to the music of Teo and Bully
an entire Square fascinated by the two performances of Masca Theatre
a concert which gives the ones who were not present in Cracow all the reasons to regret their absence: Shukar Collective
These were the highlights of the Festival. The enumeration above is strictly chronological, I told you last week that I’m giving up tops and hierarchies, since I can’t decide which event was the best.
While all these things were happening onstage, backstage we had to fix all technical and logistic details, our agendas were full and every minute was strictly calculated, the phones were ringing incessantly, we were writing against the clock and climbing walls/roofs/historical buildings in order to take pics – but we really have no reason to complain. We didn’t lack entertainment, either (we couldn’t have been the ones to miss it, right?)
Monica and Doru trained intensively, in just a few hours, climbing up and down the abrupt stairs to the stage on the roof where Shukar Collective performed.
Monica and Donata in our “press office”, which had its temporary headquarters at Cafe Les Couleurs.
Doru and the Shukars, before the concert.
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It’s over… above all, we have the great satisfaction of having faced the challenge of a demanding public, of having organized a very good event in one of the cities with the highest standards in terms of entertainment and culture.
