Thousands of tourists revel in music and dance at ProEtnica intercultural festival

The 17th ProEtnica intercultural festival staged in the medieval citadel of Sighisoara between August 21 and 25 was an occasion for the thousands of tourists there to sing, dance and revel in the lively and colorful atmosphere created by the performances put up by the representatives of all of Romania's recognized ethnic minorities during the largest intercultural event in the country. Every day, song, dance and joy took hold of the central market of the fortress, to the delight of the approximately 15,000 tourists who visited Sighisoara in that period. Romanian and foreign visitors didn't shy away from joining hands in huge dancing circles alongside professional artists, sometimes right in the early hours of the morning, others attended the daily shows performed by over 600 representatives of Romania's 20 minority organizations. The streets of the Sighisoara medieval citadel, an UNESCO heritage site and Europe's only inhabited medieval fortress, were packed with visitors keen on admiring the presentation stands where various minorities displayed traditional objects or crafts. There were traditional ethnic and cultural diversity parades in the evenings, led as every time by iconic drummer Dorin Stanciu, who has become a brand of the Sighisoara citadel. A plastic artist by profession, Dorin Stanciu is the world's only drummer on the payroll of a city hall. He is busy guiding the tourists all day long, answering questions or giving them advice. Last but not least, he announces every day the "changing of the fortress guards", by the model of the "colleagues" at Buckingham Palace. The ProEtnica project was implemented by the Sighisoara Youth Interethnic Educational Center in partnership with the Department for Interethnic Relations and the Mures County Council as sponsor partners, as well as by the government, through the Ministry of Culture and National Identity, as finance provider. The project is supported by the German Embassy in Romania, the Ministry of Science, Research and Culture of Germany's Brandenburg Land, the Romanian Cultural Institute, the Sighisoara Municipality, the Federal Union of European Nationalities, the Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen Stuttgart - ifa (the Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations, Stuttgart), the 'Divers' Association and PEN Romania. The AGERPRES National News Agency was the media partner of the event. The Youth Interethnic Educational Center and ProEtnica - Intercultural Festival Sighisoara partnered for the cultural projects Interkultural 2019, organized by ifa Stuttgart between August 18 - 23 and the "ProEtnica" Intercultural Summer Academy, organized by the 'Divers' Association between August 19 - 26.AGERPRES(RO - author: Catalina Matei, editor: Mihai Simionescu; EN - author: Simona Klodnischi, editor: Maria Voican)