​We begin this edition of the “Weekend Trends in Bucharest” column by recommending, as much as possible, to avoid driving around the city center by private car. And because this weekend in the capital is sold out again.

Calea Victoriei will not be pedestrianized this weekend, but there will be many traffic restrictions in several areas of Bucharest on the occasion of the 12th edition of the Bucharest Half Marathon.

Kiseleff rages again with a new street food festival, and for those who like visiting museums or events, the night will be white, because the Night of Museums takes place in all cities of the country.

But let’s start with coffee, and for that we recommend you try coffee with Espresso bar Two By Two (Henri Coandă 13)an institution that recently opened in the city, but gathers a large audience every weekend.

The most attractive aspect of the place is the rather large terrace surrounded by heritage buildings. The atmosphere here is very pleasant, especially when you want to spend a quiet weekend morning with a good coffee and in a cool place.

You can go for late breakfast New BAR (Ion Mihalache 16), which is the younger brother of the NOUA restaurant. This BAR in the name is a bit misleading, because it is not a bar, it is an abbreviation for “Almost Romanian Cuisine”. The project is also owned by chef Alex Petrichean, and the terrace is wonderful, especially because it is decorated with a mural signed by the artist Meri the Zu.

PHOTO: Meri the zu/ Facebook page

For good beer and a place with a special atmosphere, we recommend the smallest bar in town: NoRoom Taproom (Brezoianu 9). As the name suggests, it’s a taproom with no seating at all, so the beer is drunk up front, standing or, if you manage to sit down, near the kegs or at one of two tables on the sidewalk.

The craft beers you’ll find here come from Timisoara’s One Two Brewery and Bucharest’s Maktoob.

Before moving on to the recommendations for holding the event, we would also like to remind you that on Saturday, from 11:00, it takes place at the address of st. Băcănia Veche (Barbu Văcărescu 49) Romanian cheese tasting.

You can also take green onions with you, and fresh cheese and cream collected from the pot from Ferma lui David (Buzău), fermented cheese and cheese from Oradea, aged artisanal cheeses from Timian workshops (Miercurea Ciuc) and from Arkase (Covasna), fresh and aged cheeses, all honest from Zada ​​​​(Sučava).

event

If we talk about food, on May 13-14, the Street Food Carnival is also held in Kiselev. And this time, dozens of sellers compete to surprise the most demanding gourmets.

In addition, there are also concerts and events for the whole family. So stop by if you like real sausages, crazy paella, juicy pulled pork, tacos with amazing toppings, burgers and more.

It also started on May 12 Romanian Design Week, the most sophisticated event dedicated to the creative and cultural industries of Romania. The 11th edition is themed CONNECTIONS, runs until May 28, and includes a number of new and special programs, which we mention:

Exhibition RDW. Exhibition dedicated to design and architecture, Amzeya Square

Under the theme CONNECTIONS, issue #11 returns to the festival program an exhibition dedicated to the projects of local architects and designers over the past two years in the categories: architecture, interior design, fashion, graphic design, illustration and product design. Over 160 projects will be presented to the public for 17 days during the exhibition at Piața Amzei. Exhibition design – Attila Kim Architects.

RDW Social, Amzeya Square

RDW Social creates the perfect context for meetings and discussions under the pretext of communication and good spirits only in Amzeia Square during the entire period of the festival, 12-28 May. We bring together the local and international music scene with Moss Farai (RDW Social DJ), Alexincase & Khidja, Nerub & OTT, Norzeatic & Qinta Spartã and HipHop La Feminin, MC Yallah & Debmaster.

RDW Market, Amzeya Square

Contact local design. A selection of products created by local designers and makers that we invite you to discover and purchase. The entire program can be found here.

This year, the Night of Museums takes place on May 13, and the National Network of Museums of Romania announces an absolute record of 311 cultural events registered for the 2023 event.

Bucharest has 60 events offered by museums, art galleries, cultural and exhibition centers, theater spaces, opera houses, choirs, palaces, institutes, experimental houses or high schools and music festivals.

The special guest of the Night of Museums 2023 is the world phenomenon museum, Museum of military childhoodwhich will premiere in Romania.

His exhibition can be visited for free in the New Gallery of the National Museum of the Romanian Peasant, starting at 4:30 p.m., from May 12 to June 12, 2023.

The exhibition is called “Listen” and represents an innovative curatorial approach and an extremely emotional exhibition path, which is built around objects and testimonies of children affected by the war. You can familiarize yourself with the program by city here.

This year, on April 11, the Parliament of Romania adopted a law that decrees on May 9 – National Sheep Dayand on May 13, the Romanian Federation Oină continues the tradition of organizing the Queen’s Cup, now held in the IV edition, as well as the King’s Cup, which will mark the X edition, both competitions will be organized starting at 11:00 a.m., the stadium at the Arc de Triomphe National Complex in Bucharest .

If you’ve never seen lamb, it won’t hurt to do it now – the ticket costs 10 lei.

After an edition canceled due to the pandemic and a three-year hiatus, the JAZZ.RO team is regrouping to resume the eighth edition of the Jazz and Contemporary Music Festival JAZZ IN THE CHURCH.

This festival will feature 15 artists from around the world who will bring jazz rhythms, medieval music, modern music compositions and a lot of improvisation.

All this music benefits from the perfect acoustics of the place of worship at Strada Luterană no. 2 from Bucharest. The event will last from May 11 to 14. Tickets are available online, the preliminary price is 200 lei per night.

Tickets purchased directly at the festival cost 250 lei per night. You can familiarize yourself with the program here.

On Sala Radio in the evening of May 13, you can laugh with an American stand-up artist Ari Shafir, who arrives in Bucharest for the first time.

Having descendants from Romania, Ari is known to the public thanks to his comedy specials and shows on Netflix, Comedy Central or Youtube, and as a frequent guest on the podcasts The Joe Rogan Experience, Tom Segura’s Your Mom’s House or The Adam Carolla Show. .

His own podcast, Skeptic Tank, is over 10 years old and recently passed the 500-episode mark. Tickets cost from 80 to 265 lei.

Theater and cinema

Instead of a theatrical performance, we offer you a modern dance performance that will not leave you indifferent: Blot. It will take place at the National Dance Center in Bucharest on May 13 and 14 from 19:30. BLOT offers a series of performative situations that explore movement in terms of the relationship we have with the bacteria in our bodies.

The show contains nudity and considers the human body as an interconnected system, strong and fragile at the same time. Deprived of the social meanings defined by language, the body is redefined through a constant dialogue based on the principle of coexistence.

• Read also: “Night of Museums” program 2023 – Visits, night tours, concerts, exhibitions and experiments in palaces, theaters, houses with history

Onstage and offstage, choreographers Simona Deaconescu and Vanessa Goodman have created a performative system based on the seemingly invisible connections without which the human body could not function.

Everything will take place to the exciting music of Ukrainian Monocube and in an industrial installation containing over a ton of salt, designed by visual artist Ciprian Chuklea. Previously, BLOT was presented at the Plastic Orchid Factory (California), at the thirteenth Vancouver Dance Biennial (California) and at the Ectopia gallery in Lisbon (Portugal).

In the first season of 2023, BLOT was presented at Casa Tranzit in Cluj-Napoca (Ruma) and will be presented at the Antistatic Contemporary Dance and Performance Festival in Sofia (Bulgaria), at DANCE TM in Timisoara (Ruma) and at the International Contemporary Dance Festival in Mexico City (MX). Tickets cost 40 lei.

We have some new movies in theaters to see this weekend. “In a trance” tells the story of Daniel Rourke (Ben Affleck), a detective who must solve the mystery linking his daughter’s disappearance to a secret program that infiltrates people’s subconscious into new realities.

“Afraid of fighting” Joaquin Phoenix’s new movie is also in cinemas in Romania this weekend. After the sudden death of his mother, Bo feels bad – paranoia makes life difficult for him, and the medicine prescribed by the therapist does not seem like a good solution.

As he returns home, Beau faces his past, present and future and is ultimately forced to overcome his darkest fears to realize his dreams.

If you’re in the mood for a French comedy, at the Elvire Popesco cinema, it’s open on Saturdays, from 1.30pm, in advance, “Le nouveau jouet / Toy”.“. The synopsis of which reads as follows:

Sami lives happily in the suburbs with his wife, who is expecting a child. To provide for the needs of the future family, Sami gets a job as a night watchman in a luxury store owned by Philippe Etienne, the richest man in France.

On his son Alexander’s birthday, Philip opens the store’s toy department and tells him he can have anything he wants. Alexander chooses Sami as his new toy. The film is inspired by the classic 1976 comedy “Juette” directed by Francis Weber. The ticket costs 20 lei.