ARTmania Festival 2024 participation record: 25,000 participants in the 3 days of concerts and alternative events, 14 international and Romanian bands, 100 volunteers Sold out on the second day of the festival when the legendary band KORN performed on the main stage

July 29, 2024
The 17th ARTmania festival edition brought to Sibiu, during the 3 festival days, 25,000 music and arts enthusiasts, a record attendance compared to previous years’ editions, who enjoyed the concerts offered by 14 international and Romanian bands, alternative activities, creative activations and contests with prizes. Together with the festival team and partners, 100 volunteers made this year’s edition a reality.
As for the shows, ARTmania Festival 2024 surprised fans by bringing on Saturday, which was sold out, a band that has been influencing the international music industry for over 30 years: KORN, who chose this festival for their concert, performed almost ten years after the last meeting with the public in Romania. The band’s show on the ARTmania stage was part of the European tour to promote their latest album, “Requiem”.
Along with this legendary band, the 17th edition was the place of other firsts for Romania:

● The Flower Kings (SE) a Swedish prog rock band with a solid career, led by the legendary guitarist and songwriter Roine Stolt, which has been noted for its melodic sensibility, complex lyrics and diversity of musical influences, ranging from elements of rock’n ‘roll to classical notes and jazz chords.

● Spiritbox (CA), one of the new metal sensations of the moment, considered the only band in recent years that experienced such a rapid ascent, since Slipknot, performed at ARTmania for the first time Romania. This year (2024), the band got their first Grammy nomination in the “best metal performance” category for the song “Jaded”, an unprecedented performance for a young metal band.

The ARTmania Festival 2024 line-up was enriched on Friday and Saturday (July 26 and 27) by a series of famous international and local names who took to the stages of the Large Square in the old citadel of Sibiu (a-z): Borknagar (NO), Igorrr (FR), Satyricon (NO), Lavina (SRB), Alpha Q (RO), Awake the Demons (RO) and TAINE (RO).

The third day of the festival (Sunday, July 28), placed under the “ARTmania in Context” umbrella, brought together music and interdisciplinary collaborations. This festival day brought before fans, on the stage of Altemberger House – History Museum of the Brukenthal National Museum: Alternosfera (MD), REVOLTER (RO), Denorm (MD) and SPD (MD).

The shows on the Main Stage, the “Voice of People” stage and the “Altemberger House” stage were complemented by a variety of cultural events to which ARTmania Festival participants had free or half-price admission based on the festival wristband:

● Art exhibitions with 50% discount for participants based on the festival wristband by the Brukenthal National Museum in order for the festival goers to be able to visit the museums or exhibitions available at the museums which are part of Brukenthal: Museum of Contemporary Art, European Art Gallery (Brukenthal Palace), the Romanian Art Gallery, the History Museum (Altemberger House), the Natural History Museum, the Pharmacy Museum or the “August Von Spiess” Hunting Museum.

● Museum visits. Between concerts, people with a festival wristband had free access to the exhibition spaces of the ASTRA National Museum Complex and to the seminars, activities and events held by the museum during the festival, events such as workshops for children to make traditional masks or leather bookmarks or at the IXth edition of the ASTRA Multicultural festival.

● Creative activities and interactive games or contests with prizes for children and adults – offered in the Large Square in collaboration with the festival’s partners;

● The screening of the “Music Ambassadors Tour” documentary – cinema enthusiasts could watch for free at Casa Artelor, part of the ASTRA Museum, the “Music Ambassadors” documentary, offered by the Music Saves Ukraine team, an emotional material that captures the current reality, visits to conflict zones in Ukraine and on-the-spot impressions provided by some of the founders of the most important European festivals and some of the prominent figures of the international music industry, together with current information from the conflict zone and about the life of professionals in the cultural and musical area provided also by representatives of creative industries in Ukraine.

● A contemporary dance show with original projections specially created for this occasion with the help of a multimedia installation, a moment part of the “ARTmania in Context” umbrella, which took place before the KORN show. The team coordinated by Bobi Pricop – of which were part Oana Micu (scenography and art direction), Alexei Turcan (music), Cătălina Stanislav and Paul Breazu (screenplay), Filip Stoica (choreography), Nichita Teodorescu (lighting design), Philip Goron (percussion), Emitter (visual effects), Iustin Surpanelu (image), Costi Simion and Florin Boicescu (video mapping and video direction), Bogdan Zamfir, Alexandru Snopovschi, Dima Roșca (dance, acrobatics) – proposed a representation of “ARTmania in Context” through an intervention that mixed techniques and multimedia supports and contemporary performance, appealing to the idea of open community and its cultural course.The artwork for the image of this new component, “ARTmania in Context”, was created by the artist Dan Perjovschi.

The 18th edition of ARTmania Festival will take place between 25 and 26 July 2025, festival passes for the 2025 edition of the ARTmania Festival are already available, for sale, at a special price, on artmaniafestival.ro .

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About ARTmania Festival:
ARTmania Festival, the first Romanian festival that has brought on the local market the concept of combining the art with entertainment, is a platform dedicated to promoting all forms of artistic expression inspired by rock culture.

With each edition, ARTmania has consolidated itself as a major regional promoter of contemporary music. However, ARTmania Festival does not simply refer to shows of famous international and local bands. Music is the main component from which everything emerged, but it is only a part of the experience the festival was designed to offer to Romanian and foreign art lovers.

Since the very beginning, ARTmania has been designed as a cultural platform meant to offer the public various events and ways to experience different forms of artistic expression, such as concerts, exhibitions, book launches or film screenings. This common meeting place of artists with the public at the level of sound, colours, images or letters, hosted by the Square and the medieval fortress, creates the space of fairy tale and magic which is essentially comprised in the spirit of the festival.

Being the longest-lasting and largest rock festival in Romania and one of the longest-standing traditions of the regional cultural scene, ARTmania has shaped its own identity through a bold concept and a special ambience: the Large Square of one of the most beautiful fortresses medieval times in Eastern Europe.

ARTmania is constantly exploring new directions, building on the experience of previous editions, when a number of important artists and bands went on stage, international names like: Meshuggah, Porcupine Tree, Steven Wilson, Peter Hammill, Serj Tankian, Emperor, Devin Townsend, Dream Theater, Opeth, Wardruna, Die Toten Hosen, Nightwish, Within Temptation, Apocalyptica, HIM, The Gathering, The Sisters of Mercy, Anathema, Apocalyptica, Lacuna Coil, Helloween, Lacrimosa, Poets of the Fall or Deine Lakaien among many others.

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