Callatis Festival was the largest music and culture festival held in Romania.
Every year the location was the same - a barge that is docked into the touristic harbor of Mangalia. This barge consists of a huge stage and a very large backstage area, enough to hold over 200 people. It had the shape of a sea shell. The spectators sit on stairs across the harbor, about 20 meters away from the stage.
The Callatis Festival began in 1999 and has expanded ever since.
The Callatis Festival was held every summer between August 8 and August 15. The main part of the festival (the concerts on the stage) took place beginning at 21:00 and end after midnight. This part of the festival was aired live on TVR 2 and TVR International. In 2006, the festival's start date was August 9, and on that day the show was not aired on TVR 2, just on TVR International. Allegedly, the show's budget was severely reduced, and the producers had to deal with that fact.
From 1999 to 2003 the hosts of the Callatis Festival changed each year. Since 2004 the organizers have opted for continuity, so the permanent festival hosts were Gabriel Cotabiţă and Sorana Belciu. Callatis Club, the after-show of the festival, was hosted in 2006 by Cătălin Măruţă, a young, talented presenter with lots of new ideas. In 2006 Sorana Belciu did not co-host the show, being replaced by two young presenters selected in the Miss Diaspora contest. After a year's break, Callatis Club returned to Romanian Television in 2008, presented by Leonard Miron.
In 2003 Al Bano came to the festival, in 2004 Panjabi MC, and in 2005 the big foreign star at the festival was In-Grid, the Italian chanteuse. 2006 was the year when Vaya con Dios performed at the festival. Their show was viewed by about 40,000 people on location, and more than a million live on TV. The band brought 600 pounds of equipment for the 20 songs they performed on stage.
The barge was sold, because the owner's lack of money.
Today people can only see the barge, which has lost its sea shell, but it is still moored in Mangalia harbour, and the promenade which still has the seats for the spectators.
This cache is here to remember us of the great festival which was once held here. Perhaps one summer the festival will be reborn.