The Art Garden

The first weekend in May saw the opening of the Weekend Sessions event at the Bucharest Botanical Garden

Warning: Trying to access array offset on null in /home/web/rri.ro/public/wp-content/themes/rri/template-parts/content.php on line 98
Ana-Maria Cononovici, 26.07.2022, 12:24

The first weekend in May saw the opening of the Weekend Sessions event at the Bucharest Botanical Garden. This green oasis, in the Cotroceni area of the capital, has a surface of 18.2 ha, and houses over 10,000 species of plants. The Dimitrie Brandza Botanical Garden, named after its founder, is organized in specific outdoors sectors, with names such as Decorative Plants, Rare Plants, Dobrogea Flora, Rosarium Iridarium, Taxonomy, Asian Flora, and Useful Plants. The indoor areas have names such as Greenhouses, Herbarium, the Library, and the Center for Ecological Education. Over the last few years, new areas have been set up, such as Grandmas Garden, with traditional curative plants, Childrens Garden, and the Book Garden. The living plant collections in the Botanical Garden cover over 3,000 taxonomy categories, while the General Herbarium shelters over 300,000 specimens. Also, the Botanical Museum houses a number of collections: over 1,500 water color painting depicting spontaneous or cultivated plants in the country, vegetable products, products made or extracted from plants, collections of seeds and fruits, mushroom collections, dioramas, or exhibits with historical value.

From May until the autumn, the Botanical Garden is open to visitors who also want to enjoy music, poetry, dance, and traditional products.

Suzana Rosca is a brand manager with Weekend Sessions, told us about this second edition.

“This is our second year, we started last year with a series of culture picnics, in which we tried to re-establish connections between people, but especially connections with nature, because we are in the University of Bucharests Botanical Garden. Each weekend this year, for 15 weekends, starting on May 7, for a span of four hours we will be joined by independent artists, local entrepreneurs, and a lot of visitors, we hope.”

Suzana Rosca told us where the idea originated:

“The event sprung out of a need to meet once again with friends in an outdoors venue, with a relaxed, vacation atmosphere. We now have more activities for the good of the soul and the mind. We will hold a series of workshops, yoga, dancing, and set up a therapy tent, where people can sit down with a therapists. And, since this is a very family friendly festival, we will have workshops for children, and a grove dedicated to them, where they can play freely.”

We asked our interlocutor what the feedback was after last years session:

“The feedback was great, people were happy to discover the Botanical Garden, enjoyed relaxed picnics with family and friends, with sections such as classical music, jazz, indie and pop-rock, which can be listened to lying in the grass. It is an oasis in the middle of a bustling city, where we can seek the shade of trees, enjoy good food, good music at a decent volume, great conversations, and just being around people.”

Every weekend, Saturday and Sunday, from 4 PM to 9 PM, you can go to the Botanical Garden with tickets purchased on the website weekendsessions.ro. We asked Suzana Rosca what the visitors can do during the time spent there.

“They can sit down anywhere to enjoy the music, can attend a yoga workshop, or attend a therapy session. This year, during the 30 days of the festival, we expect to have around 30,000 visitors. This would be about double the visitors from last year, because this year we no longer have restrictions, but the number is limited, because we are limited by the 6,000 sqm surface we have available. We dont want any crowding. Visitors are invited to discover small local producers, entrepreneurs that tend with great care to the products they offer, which are of exceptional quality. We want them to sample the products, and get to know these small producers, which have a chance to be contracted by large chain stores. We want to promote them, because the picnic is provided by them. Visitors are invited to bring with them blankets, pillows, long chairs, anything to make them more comfortable. We also will have a small movie theater, Weekend Sessions Under the Trees. We will have a selection of movies from our special guests from the French Institute, and we will have documentaries and comedy movies for all ages, ready to be enjoyed on the lawn of the Botanical Gardens.”

All events are free, and visitors only have to pay the regular entrance fee for visiting the garden as usual. Children under 12 have free access, a ticket for adults is about 2 Euro regular, and one Euro for students. You can find out details about the artists and special guests on the website weekendsessions.ro, and, after making a reservation online, you will receive a confirmation for the available seats.

This is another way of enjoying the vacation atmosphere before vacation actually starts.