The Tourism Ministry in Romania wants to use the George Enescu classical music festival in 2013 to promote tourism to the country. It recently signed an agreement with the Ministry of Culture, the festival organizers, which allows the Tourism Ministry to promote the festival.

“The George Enescu festival is the event which best promotes the name and work of the great composer, and at the same time, Romania's image in the world. For this reason, the festival needs to become a symbol for Romania, as a cultural country brand,” said Culture Minister Puiu Hasotti.

The Tourism Ministry will include the festival in its usual marketing events and promote cultural itineraries – such as visits to museums, memorial houses, all against the backdrop of the festival. The festival will be promoted at international fairs and exhibitions, where Romania promotes itself as a tourist destination.

The George Enescu festival takes place once every two years. It will be organized between September 1 and 28 2013 in Bucharest. The festival has been organized since 1958, three years after George Enescu's death.

Next year's festival will include 150 events and will have a budget of EUR 9 million, already approved by Romania's Government.

As many as 14 large orchestras and 21 ensembles will hold 28 concerts, four operas, two ballets, as well as 48 concerts within the international competition of the Festival. Information about where concerts will be held has not yet been released. The Bucharest Mayor recently said he was planing to start work on a new concert hall on the esplanada of the current Bucharest National Library, which could be ready for the next edition of the Enescu festival.

Last year, as many as 16,000 people attended around 100 concerts in the festival. For 2013, already confirmed are Royal Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Maris Jansons, Staatskapelle Berlin, Daniel Barenboim, Orchestra dell'Accademia Santa Cecilia di Roma, Antonio Pappano, Orchestre de Paris, Name Jarvi - London Philharmonic Orchestra, Vladimir Jurowski - Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Radio Berlin, Marek Janowski, among others.

Romanian ensembles playing at the festival will include philharmonic orchestras from Cluj – Napoca, Iasi and Timisoara, as well as the National Bucharest Orchestra. Awarded prizes will go up to EUR 30,000.

Subscriptions for the festival will go on sale on January 15, 2013, and tickets in April 2013. The George Enescu festival is organized by Artexim, an institution under Romania's Culture Ministry umbrella, and with the support of the Bucharest City Hall via Arcub, in collaboration with the Art production foundation.

editor@romania-insider.com