Smaranda Vornicu: There is great interest in 'Cerbul de Aur'; some evenings are sold-out

Director of the 2018 Cerbul de Aur (The Golden Stag) Competitive International Music Festival Smaranda Vornicu said on Tuesday that there is a great public interest in this event, which will take place in Brasov August 29 - September 1, adding that some evenings are sold out. 

Vornicu said at a news conference that nearly 5,500 sitting and standing tickets seats were up for grabs, which were bought at a surprising pace event to the organisers, with many of the tickets being bought by tourists visiting Brasov. 

"There are sold-out evenings and evenings that are almost sold out (...) The evening of August 31 was the most requested," she said. 

Organisers said that all spectators will have very good sight of the stages and will be able to watch the performances on large displays located in the area. 

The public will be allowed access to the concerts in Piata Sfatului, the venue of the festival, each evening starting at 18:45hrs, local, and admission will be through four points on the streets of Mureseni and Hirscher, where there will be 14 entry gates. 

Brasov Mayor George Scripcaru said at the same news conference that he considered the possibility of public transport extending its working timetable for the festival and called on citizens to give up travelling in their own cars as much as possible and use buses instead to avoid traffic jams the city's central area. 

Throughout the festival, 40 staff of the Highway Police, 40 gendarmes, 30 employees of the Brasov Emergency County Inspectorate will be dispatched to the area, as well as three doctors from the Brasov County Hospital. 

The Cerbul de Aur International Competitive Music Festival, which resumes after a nine-year hiatus, will start on August 29 with a Romanian anniversary gala, with the prize winners and performing bands from the previous editions of the event participating. The show will be rounded up with video footages of the previous editions of the event from the library of the TVR national television broadcaster. 

The next two evenings will be dedicated to the competition itself, with the performance order of the 18 competitors being established by a draw - Kelly Joyce (France), Antonia Gigovska (Macedonia), Karl William Lund (UK), Amaliya Margaryan ( Armenia), Ovidiu Anton (Romania), Tiziana Camelin (Italy) John Karayiannis (Cyprus), Inis Neziri (Albania), Basti (San Marino), Olivier Kaye (Belgium), Omer Netzer (Israel), Lidia Isac (Moldova), Jorge Gonzalez (Spain), Damiano Borgi (Italy), Ryan O'Shaughnessy (Ireland), Dora Gaitanovici (Romania), Dinaya (Kazakhstan) and Raluca Blejusca (Romania). 

The fourth evening will be dedicated to the gala awards. Besides the Grand Trophy of the Festival, worth 25,000 euros, and three prizes on the podium, the contestants have a chance to win other special prizes for the best performance of a Romanian song; the Brasov prize; the public prize; the press award, and the prize of the Romanian national public radio and television broadcasting corporations. 

The event will end on September 2 with the Centennial Gala, where traditional folklore music will be presented as well as reworks thereof. 

Cerbul de Aur will be broadcast live and exclusively by TVR 1, TVR International, TVR Moldova and TVR HD, from August 29 to September 2 at 20:30hrs, EEST. 

The festival debuted in 1968 and had 17 editions, with the last one to date being held in 2009. The event became the largest international music festival in Romania. 

Performing at the festival over the years have been Diana Ross, Amalia Rodrigues, Julio Iglesias, Dalida, Sheryl Crow, Tom Jones, Juliette Greco, Vaya con Dios, Coolio, Christina Aguilera, Cliff Richard, Kenny Rogers, Ricky Martin, The Kelly Family, Patricia Kaas, Gilbert Becaud, Josephine Baker, Toto Cutugno, Enrico Macias, Boy George, James Brown, Kenny Rogers, Ray Charles, UB 40, Scorpions, Pink, Sheryl Crow and others.