Useful information
ASTRA Museum and Living Tradition! The Fair of Popular Creators from Romania
August 15-18 / Open-Air Museum in Dumbrava Sibiului
The Fair of Popular Creators from Romania, now in its 41st edition, is a cornerstone event dedicated to intangible cultural heritage. Through this fair, the ASTRA Museum offers the public a different encounter with heritage: not just a visit to an open-air museum with houses and households, workshops, and technical installations, but a dialogue with those who still hold the secrets of breathing life into these monuments. While only 28 popular creators participated in the first edition 40 years ago, this year over 150 craftsmen representing most ethnographic regions and ethnicities will be present, showcasing a wide array of traditional crafts: weaving, embroidery, pottery, egg decorating, wood and bone carving, icon painting, furriery, mask making, jewelry, doll making, musical instruments, hat making, and basket weaving. The fair has retained its initial commercial and social functions, illustrating the public's interest in the quality and value of the objects offered by folk craftsmen. Over the years, defining the communal role of museums in society, the fair has developed additional complex functions: educational—transforming the museum into a workshop that familiarizes visitors with traditional working techniques and procedures; artistic and documentary—where craftsmen display costumes specific to their regions of origin.
ASTRA Rock 2024 / August 16-18 / Open-Air Museum in Dumbrava Sibiului
Main Stage
Located on the lake in Dumbrava Sibiului, the main stage is set in a remarkable natural landscape, becoming an attraction in itself. After a day spent in the open-air museum among the stalls of craftsmen, at interactive workshops, with children playing in the Etno Tehno Parc area, or tasting original recipes from various regions of Romania, the stage is where you can relax and enjoy your favorite rock bands.
This year, international bands such as H-BLOCKX, S.A.R.S., and The Toy Dolls will perform on the lake stage from August 16-18.
Concert Line-up:
Friday, August 16, 2024
19:30 – ZOB
21:00 – BUCOVINA
23:00 – S.A.R.S.
Saturday, August 17, 2024
19:30 – ROA
21:00 – ENSLAVED
23:00 – H-BLOCKX
Sunday, August 18, 2024
19:30 – CRIMENA
21:00 – PARAZIȚII
23:00 – THE TOY DOLLS
Country Fair Stage
The artistic program at the secondary stage in the Country Fair for the three festival days is as follows:
Friday, August 16, 2024
18:30 – ONENIGHTSTAND
22:00 – FOLK FRATE!
Saturday, August 17, 2024
18:30 – WILDCHILD
22:00 – NIMIC ÎNTÂMPLĂTOR
Sunday, August 18, 2024
18:30 – JBLK
22:00 – ROADKILLSODA
DJSET every night starting at 00:30
ASTRA Rock for Kids
ASTRA Rock for Kids invites children to practical workshops and old-fashioned outdoor games, right next to the Food and Drinks area. Under the guidance of craftsmen, children can make a leather bracelet or a wooden key holder, and after the work comes the reward: play and lots of fun for all ages! We challenge young rock music lovers to discover the joy of simple, spontaneous play, facilitated by objects made from natural materials.
Daily during the Festival starting at 17:00.
Leather Bracelet Workshop with craftsman Uve Boghian
Carpentry Workshop with young entrepreneur Adrian Șoșa
Museum Marathon
At noon, visitors can relax at the Country Fair with family or friends, where they can taste specific dishes from Maramureș, Vaslui, Banat, Satu Mare, Sălaj, and learn about the cultural offerings from the regions where our friends—the museums from around the country—come from. In other words, representatives of Romanian culture from all corners of the country will prepare traditional culinary dishes.
ASTRA Poetic - The Covered Bridge from Gura Râului
Exhibition. Creative writing and visual arts workshops. Poetry recital. Book launch
Friday - Sunday, 16:30 - 19:00
This year's edition, themed "Histories," focuses on how lived reality becomes history, on the identity value that monuments, objects, and the cultural landscape as a whole take on, and how the story of a community or place is shaped over time. A crossroads between traditional and contemporary, ASTRA Poetic is a space for reflection and meditation, awareness and choice, a transition from one thematic sector to another, from one world—one history—to another.
Story Alley - the alley between the Covered Bridge from Gura Râului and the Săpânța Household/Merry Cemetery, branching towards Etno-Tehno Parc
A circuit through the rich nature of the museum's grove and meadow, along the stream. Fictional text sequences. Exhibition
Friday - Sunday, 10:00 - 19:00
The evolution of the cultural landscape in the villages of origin of the museum's constructions, the socio-economic situation of the communities, the legends, and symbolic moments from the memory of the people are some of the elements included in "The Stories of Dumbrava Sibiului," aimed at creating a credible atmosphere, giving new life to the constructions and objects, a context to facilitate the understanding of traditional culture and stimulate critical thinking, creativity, and empathy.
Etno Tehno Parc
Set in a special natural environment, the Etno Tehno Parc area gathers several constructions with different functions and purposes, aiming to facilitate the learning process by exploring children's natural curiosity and their appetite for discovery and interaction through engaging all their senses.
During the summer season, the "School in the Traditional Village" program runs here, offering children the opportunity to get to know and interact with the museum's heritage through play or guided by folk craftsmen, and parents moments of relaxation and reconnection with traditions. The whole family can enjoy musical or theater performances.
August 15-18, 2024, between 10:00 - 18:00, at Etno Tehno Parc
Wicker Basket Making Workshops with craftsman Liviu Rusu
Pottery Workshops with craftsmen
Exhibition "To the Stars and Back. Dumitru Prunariu in Space – Quest"
Playtime Hour – games and toys made from natural materials
Little Craftsmen / August 15-18 / Open-Air Museum in Dumbrava Sibiului
"Little Great Masters," winners of the "Traditional Artistic Crafts" Olympiad, well-versed in crafts and folk art canons from their regions, will hold demonstrative and interactive workshops organized in three locations. The Olympians are accompanied by master craftsmen and instructor teachers.
Fulling Alley / Amphitheater
Visitors can participate in workshops on horizontal and vertical loom weaving, sewing, embroidery, and braiding, guided by Olympians from Argeș, Bacău, and Avrig (Sibiu).
Fulling Alley / Clearing around the Jieț Fulling Mill
The secrets of pottery and clay figurine creation can be uncovered together with old pottery families from Horezu (Vâlcea), Oboga (Olt), and Braniștea (Galați).
Woodworking Sector / Gura Râului Sawmill
Students from Bacău and Nereju (Vrancea) will talk about the wooden objects they carve with specific motifs. You will learn about furniture painting techniques from the Sibiu children who highlight the old Saxon craft!
The national phase of the Olympiad in Sibiu, listed among the national and international extracurricular education projects of the Ministry of Education, brings together children aged 6-18, winners of the county phases. The competition's mission is to educate and raise awareness among children about the perennial values of folk culture and civilization, to develop the talent and skills of those who passionately engage with these values, aiming to develop practical skills in producing folk art values.
The Secret Memory of Objects - Cooper's Household from Nereju, Woolen Cloth Weaver's Household from Săpânța
Exhibitions. Traditional Object Installations - Chipărușul, Merry Cemetery, Fulling Mill, Cooper's Workshop, Weaving Workshop. Documentary Film. Craft and Culinary Workshops. Traditional Music
Friday - Sunday, August 16-18, 10:00 - 19:00 (visit), 15:00 - 19:00 (workshops)
The "Secret Memory of Objects" program highlights the material and intangible heritage of folk civilization through the objects and households in the ASTRA Museum. We invite you to discover the households from Nereju and Săpânța, where objects, illustrated stories, artistic installations, photo-video inserts, and folk craftsmen introduce you to the local atmosphere, the secrets of crafts, and traditions. These exhibitions create bridges between the past when these houses were built and today's reality of the communities.
Muzeul ASTRA offers free nature camping with tents exclusively for participants of the ASTRA Rock Festival from August 16-18, 2024. The camping area is located within the ASTRA Museum, at Pădurea Dumbrava Street No. 20, Entrance Gate No. 3, opposite Vila Diana. The camping area can accommodate a maximum of 35 tents and provides the following facilities: access to restrooms, a kitchen, a dining room, a barbecue area, a terrace, and outdoor lighting.