Christmas Offers in Romania

The famous holiday fairs have started to open in towns and cities all over Romania.

Daniel Onea, 17.12.2015, 13:26

The famous
holiday fairs have started to open in towns and cities all over Romania. One
such famous fair is the one in Sibiu, a joint project involving the city and
the Office of the Social Attaché with the Austrian Embassy in Romania. For over
a month, locals and tourists can visit the stands put up by companies from all
over the country, and kids can attend theme workshops run in Santa’s Workshop.

In
Sibiu, the seasonal offer is quite diverse. Almost all hotels and guest houses
have special packages with circuits, traditional meals, and in some cases
folklore shows. However, no matter where you choose to book accommodation, you
will eventually reach downtown, in the Grand Plaza, where you’ll find the
famous Sibiu Christmas fair. We talked about it with Andrei Radulet, manager of
the event.

Andrei Radulet: The
2015 edition of the Sibiu Christmas fair has reached its ninth edition. This
year we’ve tried to blend the experience of visiting the fair for the purpose
of purchasing gifts with the experience of spending time at the Christmas Fair.
We want them to discover the tradition of people coming here after hours, with
friends or colleagues, to sample some of the delicacies that you can find at
the fair. Before Christmas, children are the center of attention, and we want
to offer them all sorts of entertainment. It can be an all-around experience,
be they locals or tourists.

The
Christmas Fair in Sibiu was opened on November 20th with a gospel
concert. What does the fair look like, though? Andrei Radulet explains:

We have
put up 73 huts in the Grand Plaza. This is a medieval market, which is great to
visit even when there are no events there. We have a large Christmas tree, and
the plaza is covered in lights. We have an entertainment area for children,
which we call Santa’s Park. We have a traditional carousel, a little train with
a pretty long track, with its own station and even a tunnel. We also have a
track for little cars for kids, and the main attraction this year is the
beautiful construction we put up, Santa’s Workshop. It is a fairy tale house.
It is painted in red, with a red and white roof and white windows. This is the
venue for the creative workshops we organize.

In the
houses in Sibiu’s old center there are restaurants, cafes and bars, where you
can listen to a wide selection of carols, Romanian traditional music, or jazz.
In the old area of the city you can find outdoor bars, clubs, hotels and guest
houses, most of them in historical buildings. One of the hotels, for instance,
has kept the name it had as far back as 1773. Along the centuries, it has
provided accommodation for famous people, like Franz Liszt, Johann Strauss and
Johannes Brahms.

Folklore tradition is also well preserved. You can find
traditional craftsmen in the Grand Plaza too, according to Andrei Radulet: Some
work in wood, sometimes decorative objects, other times functional objects like
spoons or plates. There is a craftsman making glass globes. He even makes them
on the spot, but he takes special orders too. Tourists can present their own
design ideas to him, and he makes them in his workshop, which is somewhere
else, not in the hut in the plaza. Another craftsman makes various objects from
felt. It is very interesting to see how he uses a special technique, creating
various decorative objects and toys, like mice and Santas. We have a selection
of carols, off all kinds, Romanian and international, to create the season
atmosphere. Starting this year, every Saturday we have a special event, called
Santa’s Crew. A group of wind instrument players, in Santa Claus outfits, with
trumpets and saxophones, play Christmas songs, going around the fair. The
Christmas fair opened its gates on November 20th, and stays open
until January 3rd.

Like
all the other European capitals, the fair in Bucharest is the place to be if
you want to enjoy the holiday atmosphere. Kids and grownups alike can revel in
Santa’s magical world, full of gifts and lights. The Bucharest Christmas Market
means a full month of fun in the center of Romania’s capital, according to
Cristina Lixandru, PR consultant with Creart:

This is
a month dedicated to shows and concerts held by famous artists and bands, and
traditional ensembles from all over the country. We have a humanitarian
campaign every year, too. It is a Christmas fair where visitors can find
various traditional products from various parts of the country. Here you can
also visit Santa’s House, which even has Santa’s helpers, where we can’t wait
to welcome kids and grownups. We are also running a yearly social campaign,
under which we urge people to get actively involved in helping disadvantaged
children by donating books and toys. The campaign runs until December 20th.

60
huts have been put up in the Christmas fair in Bucharest, and every evening a
famous band has a concert. Cristina Lixandru says it is a very special
atmosphere:

This
year the whole area is brightly lit. We have a net of lights over the entire
area, as well as lit arches and huts that are beautifully decorated. This year,
Santa’s House is spectacular. It is a large house, where the elves, Santa’s
Helpers, are ready to welcome you. Bucharest Christmas Market is open daily
between 11 AM and 10 PM.

The Bucharest
Christmas Market is ready to welcome you until December 27th .