Romanian National Day celebrated at the University of Essex
Rebel’s Teo Coroiu writes about the Romanian Societies event on campus for Romanian National day which commemorated the 103rd anniversary of the unification of the country!
The Romanian Society celebrated on the 1st of December the 103rd anniversary of the unification of the country with a traditional event on campus.
For those students who couldn`t go home to celebrate, the Romanian society brought to England their traditions creating a 2hour special event.
The event was held on square three, where they played folklore songs, danced traditional dances, and get engaged with the public by teaching them some of the dances.
“It made me feel for a bit that I’m home, back in my country.”, said Viviana Tif, a member of the society.
They made their entrance by wearing traditional clothes and singing the national hymn.
“Our society used to have an event every year to give the chance to all the Romanian students to celebrate together. We decided that dancing would be a great way to share culture and celebrate at the same time.
“As a president, the event was very important as I wanted to transmit our energy to the public, to get them to know more about Romania.”, said Raluca Sandu, the President of the Romanian Society.
Romanian National Day has a double meaning for its residents known as the day that commemorates the union of the separate regions Transylvania, Bukovina, and Basarabia with the Romanian Kingdom to form present-day Romania and as the country`s Independence Day.
Viviana Tif, a member of the society said: “1st of December, it is a day full of joy and happiness, a day when I`m more than proud to be Romanian.
“I was excited when we planned to do this event on campus to celebrate our National Day. I enjoyed dancing in the square and sharing a bit of our culture through that with other people. Being part of such an event was amazing, and I enjoyed every second of it, from beginning to end.”
Known as Great Union Day by foreigners, they remember this day especially because of the annual military parades.
In the last 103 years, Romanians has a special way to celebrate their Great Union.
Children from schools prepare different activities such as painting, dancing, singing, even theatre performances, while adults wear traditional clothes, go to church to pray for the souls of their beloved ones, drink boiled wine and eat specific traditional dishes, or attend the military parades.
The military parade started in Alba Iulia, the city where papers were signed and the country`s independence was born 103 years ago.
Every big city of the country held military parades to commemorate the soldiers who fought in 1918 to save their land.
Romania is the 12th largest country in Europe and the sixth most populous members state of the European Union.
In 2018, when the country celebrated the centenary of Great Union Day, 4807 people gathered to recreate the silhouette of Romania in Alba Iulia, setting a record as the largest human image of a country ever.