Bucharest Days
The Romanian capital city Bucharest celebrated 559 years since it was first mentioned in official records, and the City Hall organized 3 days of concerts and a laser show competition. The guest of honour was rock veteran Rod Stewart
Roxana Vasile, 24.09.2018, 10:56
Friday through Sunday, Bucharesters as well as tourists passing through the city were spoiled with a programme catering to all tastes and ages. The celebration of 559 years since the city was first mentioned in official records was prefaced on Thursday by the reopening of the Union Square fountains, in a grandiose symphonic and multimedia show. After an extensive upgrade process, the central fountain, for instance, has 4 water screens, facing the four cardinal points and designed to create a huge platform for laser and video projections, with a 3-dimensional effect which is unique in Europe. The Union Square fountain system, built in the late ‘80s under Nicolae Ceausescus communist regime, is one of the longest in the world, at 1.4 km, and the water surface area is 16,200 square meters. Once upgraded, this relic of Ceausescus dictatorial regime is now a new landmark of 21st Century Bucharest.
The fountain opening was only a preview of the weekend that followed. On Friday night, the Constitution Square in the heart of Bucharest hosted a concert by panpipe player Gheorghe Zamfir, who performed folk music, symphonic music and film music accompanied by an orchestra, renowned tenors and sopranos and other world-famous artists. The guest of honour in that concert was Enrico Macias of France.
On Saturday, concerts by the Romanian band The Mono Jacks and the British band Hurts opened the 5th edition of a 3D videomapping competition entitled iMapp Bucharest. The show brought design and contemporary art on the 23,000 sq. m walls of the Parliament Palace, the worlds biggest administrative building after the Pentagon. This years finalists brought spectacular laser and light shows all the way from Russia, Canada, Spain, Mexico, China, Austria, Portugal, Ukraine, the Netherlands, alongside Romanian productions. The jury prize went to Vision Impossible, from the Netherlands, while Romanias Mindscape Studio won the audience award.
The Days of the City series was wrapped up on Sunday night by one of the greatest pop rock artists of all times, Rod Stewart. The British rock legend entertained the 75,000 people who seized the opportunity to listen to him free of charge. The 73-year old artists charisma and energy electrified the audience, who sang along and danced to his music for one and a half hours. “They are the future, sir Rod Stewart said at the end of his performance, when he was joined on stage by the Radio Childrens Choir to sing his well-known hit “Sailing. (Translated by Am Popescu; edited by D. Vijeu)
