The New Year’s Eve Party in Romania

New Years Eve celebrations have on and off turned into real street parties, staged by municipalities in the big cities across Romania

Daniel Onea, 27.12.2018, 12:07

In the capital city, Bucharest, the New Years Eve Parties draw a growing number of foreign tourists, as these parties last until day-clean, which means that three to five star hotels, mostly part of the internationally recognized hotel chains have an 80% occupancy rate, according to data provided by Romanias Hospitality Industry Federation. Surveys show that most of the foreign tourists hitting Bucharest for the New Year s Eve party are below 45 years old, choose a two-night stay in the city and mainly come from the neighbouring countries, Bulgaria, Serbia and Poland, as well as from Great Britain, Italy, Germany and France.

We wanted to find out more about the program the Bucharest City Hall has prepared for the New Years Eve party, so we talked to Raluca Coman from the Bucharest Municipalitys Cultural Center: ARCUB will stage a grand end-of-the-year concert in the Constitution Square. The event will stick to its traditional format, as usual. This year, the concert is placed under the aegis of the centennial anniversary (of the Great Union). It kicks off at 19:30 and, for six hours running, live on stage will be a host of Romanian artists, as well as a top-notch international guest: world-renowned DJ ATP. Fireworks will begin at midnight as well. The Romanian artists stepping onto the stage are Delia, Carlas Dreams, Smiley, Antonia, Alex Calancea and Irina Rimes. They are but a few of the artists you will be watching performing live on December 31st. For Bucharesters, the New Years Eve Party in the Constitution Square is an alternative to be considered. The program has always met everybodys expectations and I think weve got used to spending the night at the turn of the year with friends, neighbours and all those we know and by doing that, we somehow honour the city. We invite you to spend the night at the turn of the year ..with us. A Happy New Year to you all !

Apart from the parties staged in all big night-clubs across Romania, there is a growing number of events across the country, staged during the winter holidays. It looks like municipalities of the big cities compete with one another, in a sheer demonstration of force and creativity, an epitome of their work in the year that has just lapsed. In western Romania, Timisoara is the city where the Romanian revolution sparked off, a revolution that led to the collapse of the communist regime in Romania.

Timisoara is the city of flowers as well as a city of joy, and the future European Capital of Culture in 2021, says Codruta Magurean, the coordinator of the Timisoara City Halls Events Office: “Accordingly, we step into the line, culturally speaking, with quality events. The New Years Eve Party for 2019 is centred on artists from Timisoara. Performing live on stage will be Sean Norvis, Box Office and Kamelia. They are from Timisoara, but we will also have artists whose performance will strengthen the idea of centennial. So for youngsters, who equally love todays music, but also traditional music, we invited the hip-hop group Subcarpați. They will be accompanied by the Basska band, in a extremely warm performance, for all those who will be joining us, the Timisoara City Hall, the Local Council and of course the Culture House on the night of December 31st, ushering in the New Year. The event will start at 6:30 PM and, after the fireworks at midnight, marking the beginning of the New Year, we will continue to enjoy the concert given by Subcarpati.

The Christmas Fair in Timisoara, currently in its 11th edition, is open until January 8th. Every day, between 8 AM and 11 PM you can enjoy the fairy-tale atmosphere here. Codruta Magureanu: “We, as Timisoara locals, are proud of how weve managed to organize the Christmas Fair this year. Our fair is not only about the well known Santa. Its a genuine celebration because, for the first time, we have a skating rink in the Liberty Square, a train and many other surprises for children. This year, weve had interesting events on the stage in Victory Square. Tourists cannot miss the city centre, the Victory Square. We hope to have as many visitors as possible. We will provide a tourist platform with information on all attractions in the city. So you should come to Timisoara, because here you can find special things all the time.

We stay in western Romania and go to Cluj Napoca, a city of internationally acknowledged musical events, the venue for the renowned festival Untold. We talked to Mirela Balan, a representative of the media office with the Cluj Napoca Town Hall: “The Cluj Napoca Town Hall invites locals and tourists to come to the city center for the special show in the Union Square. It is a beautiful show that suits all tastes. Starting with 10 PM the band Hora will take the stage, then, at 10:50 PM, Cargo will give a concert, while after midnight Arpy&Zip Band will take over. Before the concert of this latter band, we invite everybody to the Union Square to enjoy the fireworks. We have many more surprises in store.

Mirela Balan says we should attend the New Years party in the city center: “It is already tradition that visitors come to the city center and enjoy the shows and the fireworks. People celebrate together the start of the New Year and its a beautiful atmosphere. There are many places in our city that I would recommend to tourists but, if I had to pick one, that would be Cetatuia, the fortification built during the Habsburg period. At this time of year the view from the top of the hill, where it is located, is beautiful. A walk though the Central Park or the Union Square is also worth taking. We invite you to Cluj Napoca to celebrate the New Year together. “

No matter where you choose to welcome the New Year, we will be here in 2019 as well, presenting you new destinations for ideal holidays in Romania.