Balkan Culture

Friday, September 16th, Timișoara was designated to be one of the European Capital of Culture in 2021. The main concept of the bid book, on which the local Association team worked for about 6 years, is ”Shine your light/Light up your city”.

”The local community was a real heal for us, the people of Timișoara are the ones we should thank for this accomplishment. We won the title thanks to the ability of understanding and taking action manifested by the local cultural sector. Also, the community’s drive and its ability to answer up to the challenge were a real motivation for us. We won through professionalism and dedication. We convinced the jury with the prospects and potential of the city, in a regional, national and international context. We won thanks to the European calling of the city”, points out Simona Neumann, Executive Director of “Timișoara – European Capital of Culture” Association.

This title is an enormous responsibility for each of us and we must consolidate and work together, keeping the lines of our main concept, in order to promote the regional and local values: the international and intercultural dialogue, the entrepreneurial spirit, social spirit and the ability to adopt the European values.

We congratulate all the other Romanian cities: Baia Mare, București and Cluj-Napoca. We deaply understand the level of implication and really hard work they also had to approach in order to reach the final stage of this competition. Also, we would like to assure them of our support and our availability in working together to accomplish the best results for our country, by involving some of the projects specified in their own candidacies.