Bucharest’s Balkanik Festival, cancelled due to local political quarrels

The seventh edition of Balkanik Festival, an international music festival that takes place in Bucharest, was cancelled after it lost the financial support from the local authorities in District 1 due to political quarrels between the local councilors. “Being a non-mainstream and non-commercial event, (the festival) can’t be organized without the public authorities’ support,” said representatives of the Metropolis Cultural Association, the event’s organizers. The festival was supposed to take place between September 8 and September 10 at the Baneasa Royal Train Station and entry would have been free. In previous years, the festival was held at the Uranus Garden, but a District 1 local councilor invited the organizers to move it to Northern Bucharest. The District 1 Local Council approved the project on June 30, but several councilors from Save Romania Union (USR) led by Clotilde Armand asked for the project to be re-discussed, according to the organizers. The Local Council was supposed to vote again on this project on July 26, but the vote couldn’t take place due to lack of quorum. The local councilors from USR and the National Liberal Party (PNL) left the council meeting on Wednesday due to disagreements with mayor Daniel Tudorache on the funding of the Rapid Bucharest football club, the local media reported. “The festival’s organizers are forced to cancel the seventh edition because there’s not enough time to sign all the contracts and promote the event,” the Metropolis Cultural Association announced. The festival’s lineup for this year included Fanfare Ciocârlia ft. Adrian Raso (Canada & Romania), Mitsoura ft. Jawhar (Hungary & Tunisia), Dikanda (Polonia), Kollektif Istanbul (Turkey), Barcelona Gypsy Klezmer Orkestra (Spain), Kermesz a l’Est (Belgium), Superstar Orkestra (Sweden), Baltic Balkan (Lithuania). One of Bucharest’s largest music festivals, canceled this year editor@romania-insider.com