The Interethnic Cultural Educational Center for the Youth (ibz) at Sighisoara on Thursday unveiled the official schedule of the 21st edition of the ProEtnica Intercultural Festival, which will take place between August 27 and 31.

The ProEtnica Festival will officially open on August 27, and will include several events that will take place in four venues in the Mediaeval Fortress of Sighisoara, in the Great Square, where the performances of the ensembles of national minorities are scheduled, in the Baroque Hall of the City Hall, in the Sander Hall and in the Museum Square.

‘On the stage set up in the Sighisoara Mediaeval Fortress Square: music and dance performances, concerts, choirs, recitals, plays performed by amateur and professional artists representing official ethnic minorities, the Aromanian community and Romanians in Romania. In the Baroque Hall of the Sighisoara City Hall there will be a panel entitled ‘Agora of Intercultural Dialogue’, with the theme ‘Supporting national minorities in times of crisis of the democratic and sustainable state’, which will be attended by, among others, dignitaries from the Ministry of Culture and the Department for Interethnic Relations of the Government: Irina Cajal-Marin, Dincer Geafer and Thomas Sindilariu; moderator: Radu Carp, University of Bucharest, ‘Romany art as a form of resistance and identity affirmation’ will also be an interesting topic that will be developed Delia Grigore from the University of Bucharest,’ the organizers reported on Thursday.

Also in the Baroque Hall, a literary salon will be organised, during which there will be book launches and dialogues on topics from literature to cinema.

Among the protagonists will be Varujan Vosganian, chairman of the Romanian Writers’ Guild; writer Armine Vosganian and Mihai Hafia Traista, who will unveil 155 medallions of writers and journalists killed and on the frontline in the war in Ukraine, hosted by writer Mariana Gorczyka.

In the Sander Hall there are scheduled screenings of documentary films about the troubled history of Armenians and Roma.

In the Museum Square, near the Clock Tower, some of the participating minorities, Ukrainians, Albanians, Czechs, Roma, Poles, Turks, will have set up stands for the presentation of specific products, books or objects of craftsmanship.

The 21st edition of ProEtnica takes place under the High Patronage of the President of Romania and within the celebration of 145 years of Romanian-German diplomatic ties.

The aim of the festival is to strengthen interethnic peace by promoting dialogue in a democratic and pluralistic society. It provides a broad framework for national minorities to introduce themselves to a large audience, and it also encourages dialogue with the majority.

ProEtnica is funded by the Department for Interethnic Relations and the Ministry of Culture. The Mures County Council is a project partner.