The 22nd edition of the International Folklore Festival “Zamfira’s Wedding” held annually in Bistrita was visited this year by guests from India, Turkey, France, Ukraine, Vietnam, Greece, Italy and Serbia.
The Festival made room for a traditional fair, where handcrafted products of all sorts were for sale. The townspeople consider this wedding the most beautiful one in the world and do their best to convince the world they are right.
On the occasion of the opening ceremonial Ovidiu Teodor Cretu, the mayor of Bistrita greeted the guests of honour H.E. Nguyen Ngoc Son, ambassador of Vietnam in Paris, H.E. Valeriu Arterni, ambassador of Romania in Vietnam, Alexandru Pugna, secretary of state with the Romanian Ministry of Culture, Ovidiu Frent, the prefect of the district Bistrita-Nasaud, the vice mayors of Bistrita Cristian Nicolae and Gelu Muthi, Vasile Puica, the vicepresident of the ditrict council and commander in chief of the 81 Mechanised Brigade, col. Ioan Berdila.
The opening night was highlighted by the professional ensembles The Wreath of the Somesh, Balada, The Sibiu Lads and Zuralia.
This years artistic conception, different from the previous editions, was based on the poems of the classical author George Cosbuc, who was born and lived in the region in the 19th century, resulting in a script written by the initiator of the festival, Dorel Cosma, assisted by Alexandru Demeter, Relu Balkan and Bogdan Botezat for the musical part and Teodor Puşcaş and Ioan Simionca who were in charge with the coreography.
A moment of silent recollection was kept in the memory of the very peoplar artist Emilia Bubulac who passed away just before arriving at the festival.
„This is an important event of the international folklore scene. We have always paid attention to the preservation of our heritage and are glad that the same has happened in so many other parts of the world, so that today we can welcome important ensembles from many countries and continents” declared Ovidiu Cretu, the mayor of Bistrita.
„We wanted a festival, the name of which should become a brand, and statitics place us among the first ten folklore festivals in Europe” said dr. Dorel Cosma, the founder of „Zamfira’s Wedding”.
„I am glad to join the local community in this moment when it has become a capital of folklore, people from all places joining the ‘wedding’” were the words of secretary of state Alexandru Pugna.
As Saturnday was also the day of the national anthem, the guests visited the statue of the poet Andrei Muresanu, who also lived here and who is the author of the lyrics of the Romanian national anthem „Wake Up Romanian”. The visit was followed by a reception at the mayor’s office.
The guests from abroad had also opportunities to visit the region and to knit ties to the local people, ties that in many cases last for years and grow like well watered flowers, such being that of Meny Papanicolau, who is a member of the IGF but also a citizen of honour of Bistrita and who accompanied this year the ensemble from Greece.
There were three nights of shows following the opening night and every group gave their best, and earned the appreciation and applause of the audience who filled the square in front of the Palace of Culture, where the performances went on, taking three stages, a main one and two latteral smaller platforms to make room for both the bands and the dancers.
The variety of costumes, colors, sounds and artistic expressions was amazing and kept anyone, locals and foreigners, in high spirits.
The final gala ended with a splendid display og fireworks and a chorus, where all participants sang in common, in a wonderful spirit of friendship and mutual respect for culture and tradition.
