Festivals taking place in villages in Romania this summer

With programs ranging from cinema and music to gastronomy and a focus on the Saxon culture, the festivals and events taking place in the countryside have a diverse offer. Some of the announced events below.

Film în Sat (Film in the Village) aims to bring rural residents closer to film, contemporary culture and art. Its second edition is held in Peștișani, Gorj county, from August 1st to August 6th. Film screenings, theater performances, live concerts, and creative workshops are all part of the program of the event, an initiative of actor Cuzin Toma, known for his roles in Radu Jude's Aferim or Corneliu Porumboiu's The Treasure. The free-access event also features meetings with actors, directors, visual artists, and musicians, concerts, and various workshops. More on the festival here.

The 'Oat Country', a Transylvania region where locals were growing oat due to the region's harsher climate, has had its very own Haferland Week for more than ten years. The event, which takes place between August 3rd and August 6th, aims to attract both Transylvanian Saxons to their homeland and tourists who want to discover the region and "hear the story of a community which left an unforgettable mark on this land." The program includes various concerts, religious services in the fortified churches, film screenings, and photography exhibitions, among others. The Saxon villages covered are Archita (pictured), Viscri, Homorod, Saschiz, Rupea, Criț, Bunești, Roadeș, Meșendorf and Cloașterf. The program for this year is available here.

Folk music, klezmer, urban gipsy music, Latin-American rhythms, and Balkan melodies make up the program of Mera World Music Festival, held from August 3rd to August 6th in the village of Mera in Țara Călatei/ Kalotaszeg, some 13 km away from Cluj. The organizers aim "to show the magic of the Kalotaszeg region to the world, while bringing bits of the whole world into the backyards of Mera villagers." The lineup is listed here. Regular bus rides are available from Cluj-Napoca to Mera and back during the festival.

The village of Hosman, in Sibiu county, and its fortified church are the setting for the ninth edition of