Moritmic Festival 7 – 9 October, Cuj Napoca, Romania

As a perfect conclusion to my very dynamic summer, during which I was literary packing and unpacking, going from one festival to another or to work on or to blog for myself, an event pops out, Mioritmic festival in Cluj Napoca in Romania. To be very very honest, I was really waiting to experience Romania for quite some time because of the constant stories that I heard about, which sounded almost unreal and impossible from this perspective of nowadays clubbing and festivals which I attend every weekend. Whit great inner anticipation I was waiting for that moment to go and experience all that for myself.

Even before I arrived to Romania, I had a great respect for their scene in several reasons:

*first of all, in this current time of general copy paste in everything which also concludes the music scene, Romanians have united and invent totally new and unique direction in world electronic music scene named MICRO HOUSE, which is consisted of minimal house, minimal tech, deep tech,

*second of all, their producers and DJs when is a matter of music, they stay very unite and share tracks only between them and for the rest of the world most of their tunes stay as a mystery, it can’t be found on the internet or heard in some foreign DJ sets,

*third and maybe the most special is that their sets as also the parties can literary last forever. Minimum length of a set on any party is 3 – 4 hours and on the festivals DJs sometimes play for 24 or even 32 hours… So when you are in Romania the party will for sure continue but not for a just few more hours, it will continue for one, two or maybe even three more days! I hope from this, my introductory part, you can assume how big is the level of difference from everything that we are used to now in electronic music industry.

I have arrived at Cluj Napoca and I was impatient to meet local people and find out more about the scene with which I was sincerely impressed even before I personally have experienced it. There is also one thing that distinguishes them from the others, is that their events doesn’t have timetable (which is totally real because you never know how long the set is going to last), so they only have the line up and here is the one for Mioritmic festival

As I was arriving to the entrance one thing caught my attention, two big signs on which was written, entrance not allowed for the people under 18 years old, please prepare your documents for checkout. I took my ticket and I entered in the first, like entrance room in which were the wardrobe and point for selling tokens and straight from there I have entered the stage which was in the middle of three stages, immediately I started to look around. Romanians are also known for their tents in which they make big events and I was very curious to see how they pulled out the things such are, the heating because outside was very cold, also how they did the light because of the tent and the most important thing, the sound. All three stages were linearly connected, from left to right you can go from one stage to another and every stage had it’s own tent color. I want to underline that all of three tents had Funktion One sound system which is one of the world’s finest and I will put a full stop on that.

Aj malo na žurku, dugo nisam… 😄🎶❤️ Mioritmic❣ A video posted by Katarina Vlasak (@ketisuper) on Oct 9, 2016 at 12:13am PDT

On Friday night on the first stage, as I heard, was going d’n’b music which I don’t listen so I skipped this stage and I dedicated the whole night to the second and third stage and impressions collecting . Already around 1AM everything was totally full. Friend of mine who came from Milan gave me backstage pass so I could look around from everywhere and see the difference between this and any other world events that I’ve been lately seeing.

All three tents were heated and I saw how, on one side just next to the bar was big pipe through was going hot air and the floor was covered in plywood or something like that so it amortized the coldness that was coming from the ground. Whole venue had minimal light but actually totally proper and enough for enjoying in the whole trip of the music and one event like that. Between stages were spots for toilets and also where you could have smoke a cigarette because smoking was forbidden inside of tents. Also, the third tent had an exit to like a small park which was chill/smoking area, where you could buy fresh squeezed fruit juice, sit near a heater and if you smoke than smoke a cigar.

I went to see the second’s stage backstage and there was somewhere around 50 people who, as I could notice, almost everyone knew each other. I catch a little bit of Dewalta and Shannon live act which sounded great.

Dewalta & Shannon live #mioritmic #katkaos #dewalta #mioritmic A video posted by KatKaos.com (@katkaos.com_blog) on Oct 7, 2016 at 5:16pm PDT

Next was Sonja Moonear who often plays with Ricardo Villalobos and with big anticipation I was waiting to hear her music because I heard great references. Now, I can say the same, her music is excellent, she mostly plays minimal, tech and sometimes some really old tracks, all together perfectly combined and mixed on 2 turntables and 2 CD Players.

Sonja Moonear @mioritmic #katkaos #sonjamoonear #mioritmic A video posted by KatKaos.com (@katkaos.com_blog) on Oct 7, 2016 at 6:59pm PDT

After her Nastia take overs the DJ booth with such a positive energy and 3 CD Players she had twisted the crowed with the music which was also adjusted to Romanian clubbers. I have to say that all the DJs who come to play in Romania, know exactly what is the musical style of that scene and everyone adjust their music to that.

@nastia_dj @mioritmic #katkaos #nastia #mioritmic A video posted by KatKaos.com (@katkaos.com_blog) on Oct 7, 2016 at 9:44pm PDT

I have finished my morning on the third stage which was reserved only for Romanian DJs and that morning at that time was one of the most respectable names and one of the leaders of Romanian scene, Petre Inspriescu. I had an opportunity to hear him before so I knew that there is no mistake with him, the music will be certainly great.

Around 9AM I decided to go to sleep just because I knew that from the next night there is no break and it is going to be a serious tempo. So just to sum it, festival started on Friday evening with a break on Saturday on some time in the day until the Saturday evening when program started again and from that moment there wasn’t any more breaks until it ends at some time in Monday, maybe during the day or maybe night, no one knew exactly when…

On Saturday night I arrived at the venue around 1AM (actually that was a Sunday if you look like normal person, not a clubber :D) and I was very, veeeery tired because I didn’t have enough sleep. I went to second stage to listen Margaret Dygas who was literary flawless.

@margaretdygas @mioritmic #katkaos #margaretdygas #mioritmic A video posted by KatKaos.com (@katkaos.com_blog) on Oct 8, 2016 at 7:18pm PDT

Third stage was for the whole night reserved just for Rhadoo who played for sure 9 hours maybe even more. So… That tiredness really caught me around 5AM and I really had to go to take a nap for 3 hours so I could made it through the rest of the day.

I came back around 10AM and on my great sorrow, I have missed the set of Barac who is one of the most famous and most loved producers and DJs from Romanian scene. ( I also had a chance to listen to him before so I knew what I’ve missed :/// ) I asked around how was he and I got the answers which I have expected. Everyone told me that the was magnificent with a constants ovations from a crowed. Friend of mine gave me this video and I thank him for that

Aldo I have missed Barac, totally refreshed from three hours of coma sleep, full of energy I was prepared for TiNI who was closing the second stage and for Romanian DJs who were on the line up on the stage three.

Whole international electronic music scene knows that TiNI is one of the lovable and rare DJs always with a smile on her face and full of positive energy. She already have played when I went home for that nap and she was still playing when I got back and at the end she had a 9 hours set with a constant support and screams from the crowed. To be honest, where ever I was listened to her, she had a great music and a great set!

Tini @mioritmic #katkaos #tini #mioritmic #cluj #romania A video posted by KatKaos.com (@katkaos.com_blog) on Oct 9, 2016 at 12:36am PDT

I went to enjoy the Romanian DJs on the third stage which were lined up and first that I caught was Mihigh

Mihigh @mioritmic #katkaos #mihigh #mioritmic #cluj #romania A video posted by KatKaos.com (@katkaos.com_blog) on Oct 9, 2016 at 1:19am PDT

After him continued Priku

Priku @mioritmic #katkaos #priku #mioritmic #cluj #romania A video posted by KatKaos.com (@katkaos.com_blog) on Oct 9, 2016 at 3:38am PDT

And after him, Arapu

Arapu @mioritmic #katkaos #arapu #mioritmic #cluj #romania A video posted by KatKaos.com (@katkaos.com_blog) on Oct 9, 2016 at 6:51am PDT

I have stayed on the party until 11PM and with next conclusion I will sum my complete impression.

Romanians and Romanian scene are really a lot in front of us and also from the rest of the world and if you ask me, their only point is in their pure and unconditional love for music . Tents, lights, visuals, everything is so simple, unobtrusively and not important to them. Also the VIP that was in the third, Romanian, tent, was always with just a few people inside and I really think that on that stage, they surely don’t need it. The whole point with the people there, is to listen to the music, enjoy, dance and share the vibe all together. All the people that I got a chance of meeting, organizers, DJs, clubbers, were so pleasant and polite that at some point I was feeling more at home than sometimes in Belgrade. There rules total relaxation and it is very visible and clear that no one has any kind of complex because of their position on the scene, organizers together with DJ spend a lot of the time in crowed, dancing and having fun.

This whole experience reminded me of my clubbing beginnings when all the clubbers and DJs were one and when the only important thing was music. It was so long time ago that I had almost forgot that pure feeling. That much of a pleasantness, great music, beautiful people, relaxation and simplicity I haven’t seen for a quite some time. This country, this music and those people, in three days definitely became my favorite destination and for sure I will take my every chance to be there again.

This, my review, is only a fraction of an story that can’t be totally transferred, you just have to see it, experience it, feel it. But I also have to say, that it is not for everyone that minimalistic sound and it is very clear that their clubbers whit a whole their scene are very musically educated and above all cultural.

Romania, another planet, Love & Respect!