People with disabilities will be able to enjoy concerts by Rita Ora, Passenger and Zdob and Zdub as part of this year's edition of City Celebration. The Centre for Projects, the organizer of the event, is continuing in 2024 all the efforts started last year, when all the events produced and organized within the Timisoara 2023 Programme were made accessible.

Lavinia Chițu and Denis Blidariu, two of the best-known Romanian sign language interpreters, will interpret for the people with hearing deficiencies, on Saturday, August 17, 2024, the three concerts on the main stage in the Civic Park, performed by Rita Ora, Passenger and Zdob and Zdub.

Photo credit: Ovidiu Ronin, „Neverending Timișoara 2023”
Photo credit: Ovidiu Ronin, „Neverending Timișoara 2023”

Center for Projects of the Municipality of Timisoara, in partnership with the Association of Superheroes Among Us, Something to Say and A Place, will make every effort to make this year's edition of the City Celebration, an inclusive event. To this purpose, the following measures have been taken to facilitate access for people with disabilities: :

+ A platform, equipped with a handrail and ramp, will be located at the event exclusively for people using wheelchairs to ensure good visibility to the main stage.

+ The events within the City Celebration programme, published on the celebrare-timisoara.ro website, have included information about their accessibility.

+ Neurodiverse and sensory-impaired people will be provided with special padding: noise-cancelling headphones and calming materials.

+ Within the perimeter of the event in the Civic Park, there will be a tent with a rest area, open for people with neurodiverse and different types of disabilities, but also for other vulnerable categories (young children, mothers, elderly), staffed by a sufficient number of volunteers.

+ A brochure will be made available to the neurodiverse and disabled public, in PDF format, written in simplified language and containing all the recommendations for accessible and inclusive events in the framework of the City Celebration.

+ The people with physical disabilities will benefit from adapted transportation from home to the Civic Park. Those wishing to request this facility, by audio message or in writing, on 0724 114 414.

During "Neverending Timișoara 2023" (December 7-10), the event that symbolically marked the end of the European Capital of Culture year, Lavinia Chițu and Denis Blidariu performed their concerts in Unirii Square in Romanian sign language. They took to the stage alongside Jessie J, Róisín Murphy, Katie Melua, Delia and EMAA, translated the lyrics and rendered the rhythm of the music so that the hearing impaired could enjoy a memorable show that crossed all barriers.

Photo credit: Ovidiu Ronin, „Neverending Timișoara 2023”
Photo credit: Ovidiu Ronin, „Neverending Timișoara 2023”

The Opening of Timisoara 2023 and Timisoara 2023. City Celebration were also two inclusive festivities. Multiple measures were taken to increase the accessibility of the program spaces and events. During the two events, several spaces were made accessible to people with disabilities: mobile ramps, adapted toilets, barrier-free routes to certain exhibitions, movies or concerts.

At the official the Opening Ceremony, a metal podium equipped with support bars and a ramp to facilitate the visibility of the stage for wheelchair users as well as a safety area for people with other types of disabilities. And, for the first time in Timisoara, hearing-impaired people in the audience benefited from the artistic interpretation of the concerts in Unirii Square by Lavinia Chițu, one of the few Romanian sign language interpreters.

City Celebration, part of the legacy of the Timisoara 2023 Programme, is an event funded by the Municipality of Timisoara, coordinated and organized by the Centre for Projects. This year's edition will take place from August 16-18 and will bring together event creators and producers in Timisoara, who will once again showcase the huge potential that the city has. The event concept includes over 100 cultural, sporting and community events designed for all ages. In an absolute first for events organized in our city, the main venues hosting the celebration will be the Civic Park and I. C. Brătianu Boulevard, two areas in the heart of the city that have an area of over 15,000 square meters.