Artmania Festival Sibiu

Sibiu (Hermanstadt) Sibiu is an important city in Transylvania, Romania. Located some 282 km NW of Bucharest, it is one of the most important cultural and religious centres in the country. Between 1692—1791 it was the capital of the Principality of Transylvania. Before the Second World War, the city was the centre of the Transylvanian Saxons in Romania. In 2007, Sibiu was elected European Capital of Culture, together with Luxembourg. The city hosts several established festivals. Sibiu International Theatre Festival is organized each year at the end of May. The oldest Jazz Festival in Romania is organized here, as well as the “Carl Filtsch” festival for young classical piano players, the “Astra Film” documentary film festival, the “Transylvania Calling” Festival, a medieval arts festival and many more smaller cultural events.

ARTmania Festival has been held in Sibiu every summer since 2006. ARTmania Festival invites rock / metal bands to sing in the Large Square of Sibiu. In addition to live performances, ARTmania Festival features other cultural events such as visual art exhibitions, film screenings, classical music performances, lectures and workshops. The festival is getting bigger every year, reaching in 2009 a new record with 15.000 people in the Large Square during the Nightwish show. A large number of participants come from other Romanian cities and European countries. The Festival is encouraged by the local and national authorities and communicated at a large scale in the regional mass media.

After spreading a gentle breeze of melancholy over the world with their Love Metal sound that brought them the status of super -star icons, H.I.M shed the “Dark Light” over Sibiu, the medieval city located in the very heart of Transylvania, a place full of history and legends. H.I.M, performed for the first time in Romania at ARTmania Festival and chose to include Sibiu in the Dark Light world promoting tour attracted by the town’s exquisite beauty, located at the foot of the Carpathian Mountains. Amorphis:

“Finnish progressive rock band that topped the international charts” Silentivm: “Gothic rock from Finland at its best” Over 7000 people attended the festival.

2007 was an extraordinary year for the town of Sibiu and ARTmania Festival. The ‘07 edition received the largest media exposure and number of participants. There were 10.000 people in the Large Square. This edition established the festival as one of the most important cultural events in the yearly schedule of the city.

Within Temptation, Anathema, My Dying Bride, Tarot, The Gathering and After Forever made the ARTmania Festival the main rock event in Romania.

ARTmania Festival ‘08 focused more on promoting romanian bands alongside internationally renowned artists. Friday July 18th, 2008: Frozen Dusk (RO), Sincarnate (RO), Bucium (RO), Agua de Annique (NL), Tiamat (SWE), Lacrimosa (D) Saturday July 19th, 2008: Nexus (RO), Avatar (RO), Negura Bunget (RO), Leaves’ Eyes (NO), Atrocity (D), Gamma Ray (D)

The fourth and the biggest ARTmania Festival gathered around 15.000 people on Saturday evening in the Large Square during the Nightwish performance. ARTmania organized alternative events scattered throughout the city, among which Aaron Stainthorpe Photo Exhibition, Live on Canvas / Nightwish exhibition, video projections. With a powerful Martin Audio System of 90.000 Watts and 280 square meters stage, the setup of the fourth ARTmania Festival edition rocked the city of Sibiu. It all started on Friday with Tristania, for the first time in Transylvania. Their performance enchanted the crowd.

My Dying Bride impressed the crowd with their incredible sound, melancholic and perfectly balanced. Thousands of dedicated fans, coming from all over Europe, enjoyed one of the best MDB performances. So indeed, might be the general impression that Sweden is a land of metal, but as Opeth’s Mikael Åkerfeldt said, “you won’t ever see a festival this big right in the middle of the city.”

The second day of concerts had a kick-off start with Subscribe (HU). Pain continued to warm up the crowds just enough to bring on stage the headliner, Nightwish.

Fireworks, light shows and Nightwish, those were the ingredients for a magic Saturday evening in the Large Square. “Great gig, great band, great city indeed!”

The party continued even after the concerts had ended in every bar and club in the city. During the ARTmania Festival weekend the entire city of Sibiu came to life. Photo Credits: Kiko - Loud Images Petru - Rock X Press Contact: [email protected]

Luna Amara @ Cetatea Cisnadioara on the third day of the festival

www.artmaniafestival.ro