August 2008

The “Pro Etnica” festival I stumbled upon in Sighişoara is a fine thing. Most minorities in Romania send artists who perform on a scene in the main square of the medieval citadel, songs, dances and what not. The crowd is not as big and crazy like at the medieval festival, creating a very laid-back atmosphere. There are many foreing tourists in this period, and together with the locals they are good customers for the few local handicraftsmen

who come to show off (and sell) their goods.

The citadel gets filled

so that in order for most of them to see the proceedings, organizers have installed a big screen

where I saw some Macedonians singing, extremely well, so I rushed to tape them, but till i got there it was over. And something else started, something that sounded very familiar: “Lasciatemi cantaaaaareeee, con la ghitarrrra-in maaaaanooo”.

There was supposed to be an Italian dance squad, but something happened and they couldn’t show up. Instead, these 3 funny people showed up – you gotta watch for yourself:

It’s a clear example of how the attitude makes a difference. They were obviously not professional singers, with their karaoke-style voices, but their courage of climbing that stage and positive attitude brought them warm applause from the audience.

We went on to check out what was going on elsewhere

(but didnt climb the Students’ Staircase this time),

and by the time we returned to the square la piece de resistence had started – greek sirtaki.

Worth a film:

I enjoyed Pro Etnica. Unity in diversity is much easier to find in art and fun.