Subscriptions for concerts at the Romanian Athenaeum and the Grand Palace Hall in the 2021 edition of the Enescu Festival have been distributed randomly, in the electronic ballot based on the platform random.org. The event was broadcast live on www.festivalenescu.ro at this link, on www.eventim.ro, on the Facebook page of the Festival, and on the Facebook page of Eventim. Individual tickets will go on sale July 19, 2021, at 12:00 PM EEST, online, on the Eventim and Festival websites.
The event took place in the Protocol Salon of the Romanian Athenaeum, assisted by a specially designated commission whose members were Marius Gheldiu (law firm Tuca Zbarcea & Associates) and Paula Rosenberg (notary public).
The draw was performed electronically, using the website random.org, with no possibility for human interference with the algorithm that selected the winners.
A total of 4,389 people had registered for the ballot organized to sell subscriptions to the 2021 edition of the Enescu Festival. 2,184 people had registered for the 1,104 subscriptions available for the Palace Hall, while 2,185 had registered for the 170 subscriptions available for the Romanian Athenaeum. Each applicant was allowed to opt for a maximum of two subscription tickets.
A waiting list of 50 names has been drawn for each subscription category. If there are any unpaid subscriptions left by July 16, the waiting list will be leveraged (in the order of the draw), according to the procedure.
The full lists of the numbers drawn and the winners are public and can be viewed on the website www.eventim.ro, via this link.
Information for the winners designated in the subscriptions ballot
Winners of the draw will be contacted via e-mail/telephone and will be able to purchase their subscriptions until July 16, 2021 (transaction date). They will receive a link to make the payment.
Subscription tickets will be issued in print@home or printed format, depending on the choice made at registration. Patrons who do not complete the payment for their subscriptions by July 16 (transaction date) will lose their purchasing right. This right will be transferred to the next person on the waiting list. The payment period will end on July 16, 2021 and subscriptions will be distributed by August 12, 2021.
After July 16, if there are still subscriptions that the winners have not yet settled, new patrons will be chosen from the waiting list, in the order of the drawing, who will have the opportunity to purchase the subscription tickets. They will then have 7 days to make the payment. If there are still unpaid subscriptions once all the persons on the waiting list have been contacted and their purchasing deadline has expired, the subscription tickets will be put on sale directly on the Eventim website and on the Festival website.
People interested in the procedure or the tickets may contact the Eventim team directly, via email at [email protected] or phone at 0728 999 775, Monday to Friday, from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM EEST.
Information on the subscriptions ballot
The ballot system was chosen because it ensures equal chances to all those who wish to purchase Festival subscription tickets to concerts at the two most popular venues for music lovers: the Grand Palace Hall and the Athenaeum. This same procedure is used for many other international classical music events.
Registration for the subscriptions ballot took place between June 9 and 28 on the eventim.ro website. This is the second edition where organizers of the George Enescu International Festival have opted for this solution.
Tickets for the Auditorium Hall will go on sale individually, on eventim.ro and www.festivalenescu.ro, as they did not raise sufficient interest from the audience to justify a draw.
Background information
The 2021 George Enescu International Festival will unfold between August 28 and September 26, in Bucharest and several cities across Romania, under the tagline History Made with Love, to celebrate the extraordinary things people can create when inspired by their love for music. It will be a jubilee event and the longest in the Festival’s history, as it will celebrate 140 years since George Enescu’s birth and the 25th edition of the Festival.
Compared to previous editions, the 2021 Enescu Festival will undergo a series of transformations and attunements, to handle the challenges posed by the pandemic. The 78 concerts are grouped into four series:
- Great Orchestras of the World (concerts to take place at the Grand Palace Hall)
- Concerts and Recitals (at the Romanian Athenaeum, in the afternoons)
- Music of the 21st Century (at the Radio Hall)
- Enescu and His Contemporaries (morning concerts, at the Auditorium Hall)
Information about the Program can be viewed here and about tickets and the ballot procedure – here. Changes may still be made to the Program, on account of the pandemic. Access to the concert halls will be granted providing the sanitary criteria are being met and face masks will be required for all patrons at all times.
