Rosia Montana lives and breathes solidarity!

Historic moment in Rosia Montana. Social movements and campaigns from Spain, Turkey, Finland, Germany, UK, France and Romania joined forces.

17 August 2014, Rosia Montana – Hundreds of activities, debates, projections, exhibitions and concerts made the 9th edition of FanFest Rosia Montana the largest celebration of social and environmental activism in Romania. Guests from all over the world who came here to bring a solidarity message and share the story of the social movements in their own communities, joined forces in Rosia Montana to share experiences and join forces in a common front against destructive projects wherever they may be.

Although thousands of kilometres away, the people of Corcoesto are living the same story as the locals in Rosia Montana are. The fight against gold mining in Galicia, Spain is similar with that in Romania. We are trying to protect our rivers, forests, people and values which are more precious than all the gold in the world. But, our communities are gaining strength by joining forces and working together said Carmen Bardanca representative of the community in Corcoesto who joined us in Rosia Montana for the Activist Social Forum.

In Turkey on mount Ida, in Canakkale, authorities are pushing to authorise a mining project much like the one in Rosia Montana. We came here in solidarity, to share our experience and learn how Europeans are leading the struggle against destructive mining. We will take back the lessons we’ve learned – and they are many – and we will win, said Ekrem Tufan the representative of the Turkish delegation present at FanFest. Similar battles are being fought in Finland, against Talvivarra and Kittila mines, in South America against gold mining and coal, in France against and airport expansion project which would threaten a sanctuary for biodiversity in Notre Dames des Landes and across Europe to stop the TTIP agreement between EU-US-Canada. Social movements and campaigns from Romania took the stage and raised awareness about social and environmental justice issues, alongside many international guests.

“For many years I have been working on campaigns – in particular around renewable energy. But never before have I been so inspired by the creative campaigning tactics I’ve heard about at Fan Fest, particularly as part of the Save Rosia Montana campaign, said Glyn Thomas campaigner from World Development Movement UK..

About 7000 participants, who stayed in the homes and camped on the land of people in Rosia Montana who are opposing the mining project, took part in the most diverse program in the history of the festival. For one week, filled with sunshine, tourists discovered local craftsmen in the Traditional Marketplace set under the shade of lush trees in the village park, filled the Activist Social Forum locations, the DJ lounge and the churches who came to life with flute music, video-poems or traditional organ music. Activities started at dusk and ended long before dawn, and took everyone present on a beautiful journey with book launches, theatre performance in unconventional settings, film premieres including RISE Project’s most recent investigation and documentary „Assassin’s Trail” as well as Tibor Kocsis long-awaited documentary „The Gold of Rosia Montana”.

In the late hours of Saturday, on the last evening of the festival, soon after the buzz in the Kids Area cooled down and tourists came back from the guided tours, everyone came together at the main stage. FanFest was going to experience one of the most impresive concerts yet. The music of Mushroom Story, Blazzaj, Aria Urbana, Rehab Nation and Basska had everyone on their toes, dancing in Mr. Petri’s forest and platow – our kind host for the main stage every year.

As the day came to a close and while emotion was on the rise, the masters of fusion psychedelic Turkish music – BaBa Zula came to the stage wearing symbolic Anonymous marks, in a sign of solidarity with social movements worldwide. The Saz set the tone for a great finale, where everyone celebrated a year full of emotion, struggle and hope for Rosia Montana, a symbol of our generation.

See you again in 2015. The fight continues!

For further information: Tudor Brădățan, e-mail: tudor@rosiamontana.ro, mobile: +40 (0)745370524.

With thanks to our partners: The Ratiu Foundation, TVR Cluj, Radio Cluj, Cotidianul, Știrile Europa FM, Think Outside the Box, VICE, Voxpublica, RomâniaCurată.ro, Epoch Times, Kamikaze, Formula AS, Zile și Nopti, 7 Seri, Revista Zeppelin, Criticatac, Casa Jurnalistului, Rise Project, Decât o Revistă, Music Channel, Cluj.info, Veiozaarte, slicker.ro, Revista Arte și Meserii, cooperativaurbana.ro, înfestival.ro, Radio Republika Verde, cluj.com, altreileasector.ro, Creionetica, Transylvania Heaven, Liga Studenţilor Români din Străinătate, ido.ro, weart.ro, calendarevenimente.ro, romaniapozitiva.ro, Dor de ducă, deCluj.ro, Romanticu.org, greendex.ro, SolidaritatepentruRomania.ro, StudPass, Special Arad.