About 65,000 people gathered in Bucharest’s Constitutiei Square last Saturday, September 22, for the iMapp Bucharest 2018 event.

iMapp is a 3D video mapping competition that lights up the giant building in downtown Bucharest – the Parliament’s Palace.

Ten international teams competed in the iMapp final this year, from Russia, Canada, Spain, Mexico, China, Austria, Romania, Portugal, Ucraine, and the Netherlands. The 2018 theme of the event was dedicated to the Great Union Centennial.

The big winners were Vision Impossible (the Netherlands), which won the jury prize, and Mindscape Studio (Romania), which won the audience award.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yAV5kRagsk

Several local and international artists entertained the crowd before the iMapp contest, among them English synth-pop duo Hurts and Romanian band The Mono Jacks.

iMapp was part of a series of events organized over the weekend in the Romanian capital to celebrate 559 years since Bucharest was first mentioned in an official document. On Friday, September 21, famous Romanian pan flute maestro Gheorghe Zamfir performed in Constitutiei Square, while on Sunday, September 23, famous British singer Rod Steward played for his Romanian fans.

The iMapp contest this year was also marked by an incident, as a short message against the ruling party PSD was projected on the Parliament’s building during one of the official video mapping projections. On Saturday, the Bucharest City Hall said it would file a criminal complaint against those who “choose to deliberately instigate to the disruption of public peace during an international video mapping contest,” local News.ro reported.

Irina Marica, irina.marica@romania-insider.com

(photos: Facebook / iMapp Bucharest; photo Alex Barbulescu)