The now traditional Gărâna Jazz Festival will take place from Thursday, July 11 to Sunday, July 14, 2024, on the stages of Poiana Lupului in the village of Gărâna and the Catholic Church in Văliug.
For the 28th edition, we announce the sale of passes at Early Bird prices. From today until 14 March, Early Bird subscriptions can be purchased for 400 lei, and from 15 March 2024 the cost will increase to 520 lei. Tickets can be purchased online at bilete.ro or from Inmedio & RELAY, Germanos – Telekom, Vodafone or the Romanian Post offices.
Over its 27 years of existence, the Gărâna Jazz Festival has become one of the most important open-air jazz festivals in Central and Eastern Europe, bringing together thousands of jazz enthusiasts and dozens of exceptional musicians from all over the world every summer. The festival at the foot of the Semenic Mountains has made a tradition of hosting many musical personalities. These include Jan Garbarek, Youn Sun Nah, Hiromi, Eberhard Weber, Charles Lloyd, John Scofield, Jack DeJohnette, Dhafer Youssef, Anouar Brahem, Stanley Clarke, Mike Stern, Tomasz Stańko, Enrico Rava, Jean-Luc Ponty, Stanley Jordan, John Abercrombie, Miroslav Vitouš, Zakir Hussain and Terje Rypdal.Every year around 20-25 concerts are presented, on the big stage in Poiana Lupului and on the stage of the Catholic Church in Văliug.
The impact that the festival has had for over 27 years on a cultural level cannot be quantified in any tangible way, but certainly the value of the community built over the years is a genuine insight that reveals the importance of promoting jazz beyond the musical aspect:
“This place has a clear specificity. First of all it’s remote, it’s a long journey, and then in the middle of the mountains you meet this group of enthusiasts, so the music also gets energetic and a bit rough. You don’t have time to sit down, so you get carried away, take in the energy of the place and, of course, the audience. Then there’s this festival vibe, people are camping out, they’re here for longer, there’s a kind of positive groove and very tolerant. It’s nice for the musicians too, it’s like a party, it’s like a community.”
(Wolfgang Muthspiel – laureate German Jazz Prize/2021, European Jazz Musician of the Year 2003)
“It really is one of my favorite festivals in the world and I feel like I’m a part of it. I enjoy it every time I come back – no matter what the temperature, the atmosphere is hot!”
(Adam Bałdych, International Instrumentalist Of Tthe Year 2016/ECHO Jazz)
“The audience is brilliant, there’s so much warmth in their reaction, you can feel it from the stage. It’s beyond success. I call it love!”
(Nguyên Lê, Cavaler of the Order of Arts and Letters/France)
“I love Gărâna and I love the Romanian audience. You seem so involved, dedicated and musically savvy.”
(Bugge Wesseltoft, electronic jazz pioneer, 3-time Norwegian Grammy winner)
“It’s very Norwegian, maybe the forest is thicker here, but it reminds me of southern Norway. It feels like home.”
(Håkon Kornstad, prestigious Norwegian saxophonist and tenor)
More details about organisation, transport, accommodation or camping and what to prepare for a perfect four-day festival experience can be found on the festival website.
Follow us on Facebook: @garanajazzfest and Instagram: @garanajazzfestival for more information about the musicians invited to the festival.
