Venetic Third Beat

Venetic was born out of a love for contemporary performing arts — from the desire to create interactions and to generate a shared space for thought and cultural experience.

With a focus on music and sound art, our aim is for Venetic to become a platform that supports local artistic creation — through public events, creative residencies, collaborations with cultural institutions and international festivals, as well as workshops for both children and adults.

To be a venetic — a stranger, an outsider — means never fully knowing how you are reflected in your neighbor’s eyes. Symbolically, the artist is, by nature, a venetic: it can take generations for an artistic vision to be embraced by a community or by society at large — for the outsider to become “one of the locals.”

Our initiative explores the role of the artist in the contemporary world — in relation to communities (in all their forms), to the idea of the public, and to the need for a shared language specific to cultural experience.

This year, once again, we are proud of the artists who have accepted our invitation — those who make Venetic.Third Beat a festival with a strong artistic mission, a statement of the relevance of the national alternative culture in music, visual arts, and performance.

TUMBE — featuring the dazzling talents of Mara (lead vocals), Radu Vâlcu (guitar), Mihai Balabaș (violin, live electronics), Răzvan Florescu (vibraphone, melodica, traditional percussion), Maria Enache (bass, double bass), Sabin Dobranici (drums), and Marius Alexe aka Bean MC (composer / music producer) — brings to life an extraordinary fusion of Aromanian traditional music and modern interpretations.

ELVEN BIRD shapes a delicate, poetic, and deeply personal sonic universe, while RADU VÂLCU – In Flow offers an effervescent sound experience, impressive in both virtuosity and compositional subtlety.

The party and listening space of Venetic.Third Beat was curated by:
BUUNIKU – delivering eclectic funk-jazz-house rhythms,
DJ VASILE – ever surprising,
MIHAI DOBRE (aka DOBRICĂ) – with a high-energy DJ set,
LEJER – electric soul, vinyl only,
and Rhadoo, who closed the festival with a truly special set.

Venetic.Third Beat also featured a strong film screening section, showcasing the visually and narratively striking works of two remarkable filmmakers: Ioana Mischie, with Government of Children 2 – a visionary international project, and Veronica Solomon, best known internationally for her short animations with a fantastical, sometimes dark touch, appealing to both children and adults alike.

This year’s edition also embraced performing arts through the project CICLAM – a personal exploration of the 1990s, brought to life by Irina Artenii, Maria Balabaș, Mihai Balabaș, Andrei Brădean, Irina Gâdiuță, Marina Pingulescu, and Dilmana Yordanova.

For children and their families, the festival offered delightful surprises such as a chocolate-making workshop with Oana from Șomartin Chocolate, “Fitness for Dreamers” with Adriana Chiruță, and musical sessions led by Maria Balabaș. Visitors also enjoyed walks through the hills, a vinyl corner, and local produce and handmade crafts that completed the festival’s warm, community spirit.