Radio Romania’s cultural projects
Although book purchase in Romania ranks way below the EU average, local book fairs are nevertheless quite popular, succeeding in drawing in large audiences.
Florentin Căpitănescu, 12.05.2014, 13:30
Such was the case of the first edition of the Gaudeamus Book Fair held in Oradea, western Romania, between May 7th and 11th. The fair enjoyed an attendance of some 15,000 guests, a number exceeding even the organizers’ most optimistic expectations. One reason behind this may be the appealing price discounts, which in some cases reached 80%. 50 Romanian and foreign publishing houses alongside book and multimedia retailers took part in the fair.
On this occasion, Radio Romania resumed two of its traditional series, namely “Books are coming home” and “A-grade students — Romania’s Olympic students”. The honorary chairman of the first edition of the Gaudeamus Fair in Oradea, Ioan Moldovan, editor in chief of Familia magazine, expressed his satisfaction: “We had guests of all ages visiting our pavilions to buy books. This means that one of the main goals of our initiatives has been fulfilled, namely fostering reading and reviving culture in general”.
Organizers also see the first edition of the book fair in Oradea as a success. Here is executive director Vladimir Epstein: “The success has exceeded our realistic expectations. In the end, the fair was a great achievement, with great offers and a deep impact on the public”.
Gaudeamus Oradea is the newest expansion of one of Radio Romania’s most successful projects at national level, namely the “Reading” program, a campaign also including the International Gaudeamus Book Fair, which has so far had 20 editions, as well as the Gaudeamus Book of Learning Fair, with 11 editions organized so far. Both events are held in Bucharest and another four large cities, namely Cluj Napoca (15 editions), Craiova (13 editions), Constanta/Mamaia (5 editions) and now Oradea (1 edition). Another important cultural project organized by the public radio, “The Traveling Piano”, resumed last week. Pianist Horia Mihail performed in Bucharest parks, enthralling passers-by with Mozart’s works. The project is aimed at donating a piano to each local community. The project also reached the US and its next stop is in the Republic of Moldova.
