Bird-watching tours, guided tours of the flora and fauna of the Făgăraș Mountains, guided tours of insects, bats or the stories of Porumbacu village are just some of the unique experiences awaiting you at the Făgăraș Fest, an event held from 7th to 9th July in Porumbacu de Sus. The festival will include the screening of the documentary Lynx, a special film about the return of lynx to the Jura Mountains in Switzerland, as well as concerts by Zdob și Zdub, Nico de Transilvania, Ovidiu Lipan Țăndărică and Fanfara 10 Prăjini. The event is organised by Foundation Conservation Carpathia and ProPark – Foundation for Protected Areas, and access to the festival is free.
Now in its 4th edition, Făgăraș Fest is an experience to be shared with friends and family. The festival opens on Friday 7th July at 21:00 with an open-air screening of the documentary ‘Lynx’ and ‘Făgăraș Adventure’, an adventure competition. On Saturday and Sunday, the festival continues with activities such as hiking along mountain paths, bird-watching and wildlife tracking tours, workshops, games and competitions for children, as well as gastronomic experiences highlighting the unique flavours of local products.
In the evenings, Zdob și Zdub, Nico de Transylvania, Ovidiu Lipan Țăndărică and Fanfara 10 Prăjini will entertain you with music and dancing on the grass.
Guided nature tours
The Făgăraș Fest aims to highlight and promote the unique nature of the Făgăraș Mountains, which is why festival participants are invited to explore the mountain as never before, in four unique guided tours. The curious can join the bird watching tours, the tours on the flora and fauna of the Făgăraș Mountains or the guided tours on insects and bats.
Minimum equipment required: comfortable walking shoes, hat, small rucksack, water bottle, fly repellent, sunscreen and binoculars (for birdwatching).
Local traditions and culture
The Făgăraș Fest takes people on a journey into the local culture, inviting them to experience the local crafts. Thus, during the festival, in the section dedicated to local producers and craftsmen, participants can learn how various traditional objects are made. Avrig’s preservers of tradition will also be organising an authentic evening of handicrafts.
Visitors can also take a guided tour of the village lanes to learn more about the local culture.
Children’s workshops in nature
Children of all ages, and parents who still feel like children, will be able to participate in many nature-related activities. The activities will be carried out by 10 teachers from the communities of the Făgăraș Mountains, who have graduated from nature educators’ courses.
Game – Explorers of the Făgăraș Mountains
It is an educational game with 10 special challenges, where children and their parents have the chance to experience together different workshops and fun activities that will turn them into real explorers of the Făgăraș Mountains. To make it even more exciting, the challenges are secret.
Participation in the game is free and requires registration during the Făgăraș Fest in the area dedicated to educational workshops.
Bat Corner – activities about bats for children
The little ones will enter the world of bats with the help of robots (Ozobots) that they will program using colour codes. They will also be able to create their own map on which the robot bat will move between the elements they have created.
Escape Tent – Adventures in saving the planet
A unique experience for groups of up to six friends where participants are challenged to race against the clock to save the planet. Using logic, intuition and knowledge of nature, participants will find solutions to a series of challenges. The activity is free.
Concerts
The atmosphere of the summer evenings will be enlivened by good music and concerts that will bring to the stage Zdob și Zdub, Nico de Transilvania and Ovidiu Lipan Țăndărică and Fanfara 10 Prăjini.
The festival celebrates local communities, so children from the Porumbacu area will be on stage with a special artistic programme.
Carpathia Talks
Experts in key areas of wildlife conservation come to share their knowledge and experience with the public in open discussions. Topics include invasive habitats and plant species, large carnivores and their importance for biodiversity, the return of the bison to the Făgăraș Mountains, the role of forests and efforts to conserve and restore them. Last but not least, economics and conservation, the new approach to generating income from nature conservation. The events in the Carpathia Talks series will take place on Saturday and Sunday.
Făgăraș Adventure – adventure sports competition
Făgăraș Adventure is an endurance competition that takes place every year in a protected area – an area with valuable landscape and biodiversity. It takes place over 200-300 km, for a maximum of 50 hours, and the teams receive the map of the route only the evening before the start. The competition requires teams of four members (at least one girl) to complete various challenges: mountain running, orienteering, mountain biking, kayaking, climbing and special surprise challenges.
Făgăraș Adventure is an event where participants become ambassadors of nature. Before the competition, they prepare themselves to face special challenges related to the knowledge of nature and the specific fauna and flora of the trail, as well as to what it means to be a tourist or even a protected area specialist or ranger. You can register for this mountain adventure competition on the ProPark – Protected Areas Foundation website.
Guided e-bike tour to the marble quarry
Guided e-bike tours to the marble quarry in the Valea Râului Mare will depart from the festival during the two days. The route is 15 km long, takes about 1 hour, with 350 m height gain, medium to advanced difficulty (for those who come with their own bike).
The cost of the tour is 100 lei for those who choose to do the route with an e-bike rented from the partner organising the tour, and 30 lei for those who come with their own bike.
Minimum equipment: sports or mountain shoes, suitable clothing, helmet (details on the Făgăraș Fest website).
How to get to the festival
Făgăraș Fest 2023 will take place in Porumbacu de Sus, in the area ‘Povestea calendarului’ and ‘Castelul de lut, Valea zânelor’. Exact location: here
From Brașov on the DN1, at the entrance to Porumbacu de Jos turn left, through the village of Porumbacu de Sus to the tourist area, then follow the signs.
From Sibiu on the DN1, at the exit of Porumbacu de Jos turn left, through the village of Porumbacu de Sus to the tourist area, then follow the signs.
Some activities during the festival are paid.
Făgăraș Fest 2023 is organised in partnership with the Porumbacu de Jos commune.
The event is supported by Majorel, Poșta Română, Serviciul Județean Salvamont Brașov, Asociația Salvatorilor Montani România.
National media partner: Radio Guerrilla.
The event is organised in the framework of the project ‘Creation of a Wilderness Area in the Southern Carpathians, Romania’, LIFE18 NAT/RO/00108. The main objective of the project is the restoration of degraded habitats and the application of conservation measures that will allow the restoration of natural processes and create benefits for local communities in the Făgăraș Mountains area. The project will be implemented by Foundation Conservation Carpathia with its partners between 2019-2024, with financial support from Arcadia Foundation through the Endangered Landscapes Programme and from the European Commission through the LIFE Program
