Balkanik Festival: Bucharest event announces lineup of this year's edition

Balkanik Festival – Home of World Music, set to take place at Uranus Garden between September 5 and September 7, lines up this year artists who "celebrate that form of joy that does not ignore reality, but faces it with beauty, energy, and solidarity," the organizers said.

The artists performing in September in Bucharest will be Omar Souleyman (Syria), whose music is a hybrid between traditional dabke and electronic beats; Lupii lui Calancea (Moldova), performing a blend of Moldavian folklore, rock, and funk; Mahala Rai Banda & Jony Iliev (Romania – Bulgaria); Ivo Papasov & His Wedding Band (Bulgaria), set for a performance breaking the boundaries between folklore and avant-garde; Kottarashky & The Rain Dogs (Bulgaria), expected to deliver the atmosphere of a Balkan noir; MiASiN (Armenia–France), a collective project from the Armenian diaspora blending jazz, rock and traditional instruments to explore identity themes; Kanizsa Csillagai (Hungary), bringing to the stage the force of Roma tradition; BaLKAN Taksim (Romania), the duo known for the Balkan-infused trip-hop; and Karpov Not Kasparov(Romania), two pioneers of East-European synth-pop exploring a retro-futuristic sound inspired by the 1980s.

In addition to live concerts, the festival program includes this year a craft fair, craft demonstrations, debates, jam sessions, video mapping on the water tower, workshops for children and adults, world food, and more.

This year's debates will explore the theme of "Joy as a form of cultural and community resistance." They will present guests from fields as varied as the arts, philosophy, anthropology, and activism and tackle the question, "What does joy mean in a world where everything seems to be fracturing?"

Five hundred early-bird passes are currently on sale. Children younger than 9 enjoy free entry, accompanied by adults.

(Photo: the organizers)