Eforie Colorat: Festival brings contemporary art to RO seaside resort

The eco-art festival Eforie Colorat, scheduled to take place throughout the summer in the seaside resort of Eforie Sud, will gather more than 200 events hosted at the Eforie Sud Summer Garden creative hub.

The festival, which runs between July 4 and September 4, is meant as “an alternative meeting space” and a center for contemporary arts at the Romanian seaside. At the same time, it plans to bring back “the memory, culture, and charm of an abandoned resort, whose potential remained unexplored over the past three decades.”

This year’s edition has four main sections: film, alternative music, art exhibitions or interventions and debates regarding ecology and environmental awareness.

The festival has a program covering film screenings, concerts, debates, exhibitions, workshops, and clean-up events, all designed to “erase the barriers between the artists and the public and the borders between the conventional exhibition venues and the public space,” the organizers said. The program also covers poetry recitals, photography exhibitions, and classical, experimental, blues and jazz concerts. Playgrounds for children and a pop-up library will also be available.

British journalist Charlie Ottley, the producer of the series Flavours of Romania and Wild Carpathia, has been invited to speak at the event on the ethical and coherent development of tourism potential, sustainable development, and culture-driven growth opportunities.

“The festival emerged due to the necessity for an alternative to the mainstream events. It speaks about the rejuvenation of abandoned cultural spaces while offering an example of good practices, which is extremely useful for developing the community and local tourism. Our programs have already made an impact on a higher, regional scale and are currently bringing a broader audience closer to the contemporary art scene. It is an attempt to prove that art is the common ground through which change can happen,” Emil Cristian Ghiță, one of the co-founders of the project, said.

The locality that is named today Eforie Sud was established in 1899. Before the Second World War, it was called Carmen Sylva, the pen name of Romania’s Queen Elisabeta. It was named Eforie Sud in the 1960s.

(Photo courtesy of the organizers)