HISTORICAL REENACTMENT FESTIVAL AT GOLEȘTI MUSEUM
IN THE TIME OF THE ARNAUTS AND PANDURS
On the last weekend of September, we invite you to Golești Museum for two days of encounters with history: military reenactments, interactive workshops, period music, and discussions with authors of history books.
Now in its second edition, the “In the Time of the Arnauts and Pandurs” Festival brings to the public’s attention the world of the final years of the Phanariot era and the beginnings of the modernization of Romanian society. Arnauts, Pandurs, boyars, and soldiers dressed in period uniforms will bring the Golești estate to life through a programme for children and adults alike, combining demonstrations with hands-on activities.
Dates: 26–27 September 2026
Venue: Golescu Boyars’ Park – Golești Museum of Viticulture and Fruit Growing, 34 Radu Golescu Street, Ștefănești, Argeș County, Romania.
FESTIVAL PROGRAMME
Saturday, 26 September 2026, 10:00–20:00
Throughout the day, from 10:00 to 20:00, visitors will be able to explore historical reenactment workshops and encampments.
The Historia Renascita Association invites visitors to demonstrations of traditional lead bullet casting, Cyrillic writing, and the making of postcards inspired by the period. A palaeography and sigillography workshop will offer participants the opportunity to try writing with a quill and ink and applying wax seals. Coffee brewed in hot sand, along with tastings of preserves and traditional sweets, will complete this encounter with the customs of the period.
At the 6 Dorobanți Association bivouac, visitors will discover period uniforms, equipment, and weaponry. Volunteers, especially children, will be able to take part in military drill using replica weapons and will receive a “military service booklet.” Younger visitors will be able to draw and colour at the war correspondents’ and war artists’ desk, while at the field post office visitors will be able to write postcards with pen and ink to be sent through the Romanian Post. The bivouac will also include a field kitchen, where a soldiers’ stew will be prepared for members of the association.
Throughout the day, 3 Parale will perform short musical interludes in the Arnaut camp, followed by a live concert at sunset.
Saturday’s Highlights
11:30 — Book launch at Golești Manor:
Professor TUDOR DINU, Coffee, Tobacco, and Jam: The Delights of the Orient in the Romanian Principalities. An Illustrated History, Humanitas Publishing House.
13:00 — Reenactment of the arrest of Tudor Vladimirescu by Iordache Olimpiotul’s Greeks on 21 May 1821.
14:30 — Discussion on the beginnings of Romanian modernity, featuring TUDOR DINU, RADU OLTEAN, AND CLAUDIU NEAGOE, moderated by historian ANDREI POGĂCIAȘ and streamed live on YouTube.
18:00 — 3 PARALE concert on the stage in Golescu Boyars’ Park.
Sunday, 27 September 2026, 10:00–18:00
From 10:00 to 18:00, the interactive workshops and activities in the historical military bivouac will continue.
Together with Historia Renascita, visitors will be able to watch demonstrations of lead bullet casting, practise writing in the Cyrillic alphabet, and create postcards inspired by period engravings and decorative motifs.
The 6 Dorobanți Association will continue its presentations of uniforms and equipment, military drill sessions for volunteers, and children’s activities at the war correspondents’ desk. The field post office will welcome new messages written with pen and ink, while the field kitchen will further recreate the experience of military life.
Sunday’s Highlight
12:00 — Book launches with Radu Oltean and Claudiu Neagoe, followed by discussions with the audience.
The meetings with the authors are organized with the support of Humanitas Publishing House. Books by Tudor Dinu and Radu Oltean will be available for purchase from the museum shop, with copies signed by the authors.
RADU OLTEAN, In the Time of Tudor, Humanitas Publishing House.
Associate Professor CLAUDIU NEAGOE, The Military Organisation of Moldavia and Wallachia in the Phanariot Era 1709–1821, Helion & Company Limited, Warwick, United Kingdom.
How to Get to the Festival
https://muzeulgolesti.ro/ro/cum-ajung-la-muzeu/
PARTICIPATING ASSOCIATIONS
Historia Renascita is an association dedicated to historical reenactment, exploring, among other subjects, civilian and military life during the Phanariot era. Through costumes, equipment, and demonstration workshops, its members bring to life for the public the world of the Romanian Principalities in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
6 Dorobanți reenacts aspects of military history through presentations of uniforms, weaponry, and life in the field. At Golești, the association will set up a bivouac inspired by the Napoleonic armies and the native Wallachian army of Prince Bibescu’s time, together with interactive activities for the public.
FESTIVAL GUESTS
Tudor Dinu, university professor, historian, and philologist at the University of Bucharest, specializes in Modern Greek, Byzantine, and post-Byzantine studies. His research explores the Phanariot era and the influence of Greek culture in the Romanian Principalities.
Radu Oltean, author and historical illustrator, combines rigorous historical research with visual reconstruction, offering the public detailed representations of people, places, and events from the past.
Claudiu Neagoe, associate professor at the National University of Science and Technology POLITEHNICA Bucharest, researches the history of society and military organization in the Romanian Principalities, with a particular interest in the Phanariot era.
Andrei Pogăciaș, military historian, editor, and translator, is the author of studies and works on the military history of Eastern Europe. He will moderate Saturday’s discussion.
3 Parale is a musical ensemble that reconstructs early music based on historical sources, including songs and verses collected by Anton Pann. The musicians will accompany Saturday’s programme with musical interludes and a concert in Golescu Boyars’ Park.
ORGANIZER AND SUPPORTERS
Organizer:
Argeș County Council; Golești Museum of Viticulture and Fruit Growing
Sponsors:
Aldestar Transporturi, Horse România S.A., and Fuchs Condimente Ro.
Partners:
BASF România, ONIV, Argeș County Chamber of Commerce, Humanitas Publishing House, and Luxuria Travel tourism agency.
Media Partners:
Rezistența prin Cultură Association, ArgeșGhid, 7days7nights, and Radio România.
