It is with great regret and sadness that the second edition of Watumi Festival & Fringe, due to take place between 7-11 July in Brasov will be cancelled due to insufficient funds.

Watumi Festival & Fringe was initiated by The Association for Supporting and Promotion of Artists (ASPA - non-profit and non-governmental organisation) conceived by and for artists to offer them a platform of free expression.

Watumi Festival & Fringe 2010 would have meant 5 days of festival with simultaneous events in the following artistic categories: music, theatre and street theatre, visual arts, film, object design and hand made, art for children, taking place in conventional places as well as streets, parks, squares and unconventional indoor spaces with the participation of many artists from Romania and abroad. An event of such complexity requires a substantial budget, this year's edition being affected by the deep recession and difficult economic conditions affecting every aspect of our society.

Due to changes within the private companies intending to support the second edition of Watumi, funding at the level required by such large event could not be secured. Regretfully therefore we are forced to announce the postponement of this year's festival until 2011. When we started this project, we refused to contemplate the prospect of failure and profiteering. The 2009 edition of WFF was funded exclusively by the founders of ASPA and Watumi Festival & Fringe in their willingness to introduce the concept of "Fringe" on the Romanian cultural scene - a concept with direct implications for debutant artists and the long term development of Brasov County.

We have tried very hard, until the last moment, to organise this year's edition and bring into the spotlight, for 5 days, 282 registered artists in the "Fringe" section and 37 artists invited in the "Festival" section. In addition to the participating artists Watumi anticipated welcoming principal cultural centres from Romania and a few established national festivals.

The decision to postpone Watumi Festival & Fringe was very difficult to take but we are convinced that it is the right one at the present moment for all the artists, not being able to provide them with all the logistical and technical support required. We will do everything in our power to make sure that the 2011 edition will compensate for this delay and our association will increase their efforts to secure the funds required for next year. We have not taken this decision lightly as we are not willing to compromise the quality of the event and disappoint everyone involved.

We would like to thank all official and unofficial partners of Watumi Festival & Fringe project for their enthusiasm and support offered - media partners, cultural partners, artists that gave us their vote of trust by registering in the Fringe section, all the members of the artistic community that supported our struggle, the representatives of 57 partner locations in Brasov and over 100 registered volunteers and we hope that everybody will be by our side in organising the 2011 edition.

Watumi Festival & Fringe is an international festival that promotes art in all its forms and, par excellence, the accessibility and cultural diversity, celebrating an essential value of humanity: creativity. First edition of Watumi took place in 2009, when over 250 artists took place during the 5 days, with exceptional artistic shows being a source of inspiration for everyone presen

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