The best parties Romania

Organized by the LGBT rights organization Accept, the BUCHAREST PRIDE festival, which takes place in May or June, includes numerous events (exhibitions, concerts, screenings, conferences, games...), in addition to Gay Pride. While in its early days, in the mid-2000s, the march was marred by violent incidents, today it takes place peacefully and brings together several thousand people. Since 2018, Gay Pride has taken place in the city center, whereas it was previously relegated to a residential area.

On 30 December, this small town in Moldavia is the scene of a spectacular ritual with pre-Christian roots: the "dance of the bears". Many inhabitants don real bear skins, handed down from generation to generation, and parade through the streets dancing, singing and growling to chase away the evil spirits of the past year and keep them away from the new one to come. The bear symbolizes rebirth, capable of overcoming winter and heralding spring.

Called Union Day (Ziua Unirii), the Romanian National Day takes place on ¹ December. It celebrates the union, proclaimed on 1 December 1918 in Alba Iulia, of all the Romanian provinces, especially Transylvania, which was attached to the Kingdom of Romania after the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. ¹ December became a national holiday in 1990, just after the fall of communism. On this day, cities are decked out in blue-yellow-red flags and a military parade takes place in Bucharest, under the Arc de Triomphe, and in Alba Iulia.

Crossing point between Maramureș and Moldavia, the Prislop Pass (1,413 m above sea level) hosts on the Sunday following August 15 a great folk festival, called Hora de la Prislop. It celebrates the unity of the three județe border regions: Maramureș, Suceava and Bistrița-Năsăud. Folklore ensembles from these three departments take part in the event and perform the hora, a traditional circle dance, together. The programme also includes culinary specialities, a parade of folk costumes and a craft fair.