Artown Festival has become the largest urban art festival in Romania ever since its first edition in 2022, and last year it already became the most significant in the SEE region. This year, we are organising the third edition from October 4 to 20.
What if we brought surrealism back to the city? The third edition of Artown Festival is about the small things that can change the big, a blossoming of kindness, and a collective anticipation for a better future!
The theme of this edition is illustrated through surrealism as a visual direction, connected to two powerful concepts:
- What If? – What if we imagined a world where we all wanted to live? What if we leart to collaborate, lift each other up, and become more aware of everything that is happening around us? Together, we imagine a future where we thrive and reconnect, a future where we take care of everything that surrounds us.
- LET’s PLAY – Ploiești is Romania’s Youth Capital in 2024, so the festival challenges participants to play and imagine new surreal futures where reality meets fantasy, promoting a deep connection with nature as inspiration, essential for our growth.
We promote intimacy in urban spaces and the cultivation of new relationships with the environment. Valuing nature and our vulnerable parts, we evolve firstly within and then in our environments, shaping resilient societies and bringing to life ideal cities that reflect our deepest aspirations.
In 2024, we extended the festival, which lasted 10 days in the past two editions. This autumn, artists from all corners of the world will transform in Ploiești into a creative space for 17 days, along with mixed exhibitions, inclusive events, and workshops for the community, with and for people from disadvantaged backgrounds. There will be a circuit of permanent and temporary sculptures (to be activated separately in the spring of 2025), mural artworks (including Braille plaques), over 80 smaller-scale urban interventions, and a strong urbanism component.
The festival is not just about art; it is all about community, collaboration, and creative ownership. We curate a festival that builds bridges, unites communities, and showcases the incredible power of collaborative artistic expression.
