National Culture Day has been celebrated since 2010, every year on January 15, the birthday of the poet Mihai Eminescu. This year, dozens of events are being organized at national cultural institutions both in Romania and abroad. The public can choose from an extremely diverse program, ranging from visits, guided tours and free-entry exhibitions to performances, broadcasts, concerts, documentaries and debates.

National Culture Day was established as a national celebration on the anniversary of Mihai Eminescu’s birth. The events dedicated to this holiday, now in its 16th edition, aim to promote the values of Romanian national culture in all communities inhabited by Romanians, both within the country and beyond its borders.

Institutions under the Ministry of Culture

Events dedicated to National Culture Day take place in Bucharest as well as in cities across the country, hosted by public cultural institutions under the coordination of the Ministry of Culture.

Romanian Cultural Institute (ICR) representations

The Romanian Cultural Institute and its representations abroad, together with numerous partners from Romania and around the world, are organizing an extensive program of events dedicated to National Culture Day, celebrated on January 15. At the National Opera Bucharest, a concert will take place on Thursday at 7:00 PM, bringing together the Bucharest Metropolitan Orchestra, conducted by Daniel Jinga, and internationally renowned artists Ștefan Pop, Ramona Zaharia, Raluca Știrbăţ, Damian Drăghici, and Alexandru Tomescu.

Romanian Television

Special event concerts, ballet performances, films inspired by books, debates and premiere documentaries dedicated to the poet Mihai Eminescu are included in the programming of the public television channels.

Radio România

Radio România Cultural and Radio România Muzical celebrate National Culture Day with a marathon of news, interviews, live reports, original events, and coverage of cultural activities from Romania and abroad.

Cesianu-Racoviță Palace

The exhibitions prepared at Artmark – The Palace of Culture feature essential names of modern and contemporary Romanian art, from Nicolae Grigorescu and Ștefan Luchian to Felix Aftene and Constantin Piliuţă, alongside major figures of modern European art such as works by Salvador Dalí, Pablo Picasso, René Magritte, Marc Chagall, Andy Warhol, and Gustav Klimt. Admission is free.

Bulandra Theatre

On January 15, National Culture Day, the Bulandra Cinematheque opens with a theatrical and cinematic marathon that, through 12 hours of documentary video materials from the TVR Archive, explores part of the history of Bulandra Theatre and the legendary stories staged on its stages.

Madrigal Choir launches a new multimedia production

The video “Mérida – Efemeride”, the latest multimedia production of the “Madrigal – Marin Constantin” National Chamber Choir, will be launched on Thursday at 5:30 PM at Cinema City – Mega Mall Bucharest, in the presence of the Madrigal Choir, which will also perform a short recital of Romanian music. Public access is free, subject to seat availability.
The new Madrigal video “Mérida – Efemeride” will also be shown to travelers passing through Unirii 1 metro station between 6:00 AM and 8:00 PM, displayed on a large screen.

ARCUB

ARCUB invites the public to a special event dedicated to video game music—a key element of the gaming experience, responsible for emotion, atmosphere and storytelling. From the 8-bit sounds of early consoles to complex soundtracks and live performances, video game music has become an artistic form with an increasingly visible cultural impact beyond the screen.

The evening begins with an open discussion moderated by Elvira Lupșa, alongside Gojira, George Pandrea, DEX, Dualtrx and Otaku—artists and creators active at the intersection of music, urban culture and digital media. The conversation offers an accessible exploration of the evolution of video game music, its role in shaping emotion and narrative, and the ways in which this sound universe is now reflected in concerts, installations and audio-video archives.

After the discussion, the ARCUB space transforms into a live experience and interaction zone: DJ sets by George Pandrea and Gojira, a turntable set by DEX, an audio-video installation combining a Nintendo NES console with modular synthesizers created by Dualtrx, as well as VJ sessions and visuals by Otaku / manga.RO. In parallel, the public is invited to actively participate by testing music-based games such as Guitar Hero III (Wii) and DJ Hero (PS3), creating a playful dialogue between sound, rhythm and play.

The event takes place within the context of the exhibition “The Art of the Game”, which can be visited until March 1 at ARCUB – Hanul Gabroveni. The exhibition is dedicated to video games as a form of contemporary art and explores the connection between video games, design, music, imagery and storytelling, offering a cultural perspective on one of today’s most influential creative media.

Participation in the event requires registration. Event participants also receive free access to the exhibition “The Art of the Game” between 6:00 PM and 10:00 PM.

Romanian Academy

The Romanian Academy and the Academy of Sciences of Moldova will celebrate together, in a festive session, the 16th edition of National Culture Day. The event will take place on Thursday starting at 11:00 AM, simultaneously in the Aula of the Romanian Academy in Bucharest and the Azure Hall of the Academy of Sciences of Moldova in Chișinău. The opening of the festive session will be marked by speeches delivered by the presidents of the two academic institutions, Ioan-Aurel Pop and Ion Tighineanu.

Presentations will be delivered by representatives of the academic community from both sides of the Prut River, including poet Ana Blandiana and philosopher Mircea Flonta, full members of the Romanian Academy; literary critic and historian Mihai Cimpoi, member of the Academy of Sciences of Moldova; Marta Petreu, professor at Babeș-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca; and academician Mircea Martin, President of the Philology and Literature Section of the Romanian Academy. The event will be moderated by Ioan Cristescu, General Director of the National Museum of Romanian Literature.

The solemn moment will be marked by the performance of the “Ode to Eminescu”, first presented on January 15, 2025, in Bucharest, Chișinău and Brussels, as part of the events inaugurating the “Mihai Eminescu Year”, a joint initiative of the two academies. The session of presentations will be followed by the launch of the postage stamp issue “National Culture Day”, presented by Gabriel Bulumac, General Director of Romfilatelia, and by a recital performed by actress Maia Morgenstern. The program will conclude with a musical performance by the ARCO string quintet, composed of students from the “Dinu Lipatti” National College of Arts and the “George Enescu” National College of Music in Bucharest.

The event is part of the Joint Action Plan for 2026, a festive year in which the Romanian Academy celebrates 160 years since its founding, while the Academy of Sciences of Moldova marks 65 years of activity.

Written by Aura Marinescu | 15 ianuarie 2026, 07:00