A Note from FORA on the Romanian Weekend at The Wharf

FORA - the Federation of Romanian-American Organizations learned with deep sadness that the Romanian Weekend at The Wharf will not take place in 2026.

Since its launch in 2022 as a joint initiative of the Embassy of Romania to the United States and the Romanian Cultural Institute in New York, the festival grew in just four years into the largest Romanian cultural festival in the United States and one of Washington, D.C.'s most anticipated summer events. The fourth edition alone drew over 12,000 people to The Wharf - Romanian Americans, Washingtonians, and visitors who came curious and left carrying a piece of Romania with them.

What made this festival matter wasn't only the scale. It was what it stood for. Three days of folk music and dance, traditional crafts, Romanian cuisine and wine, spoken word, and living culture - free, open to all, on the banks of the Potomac - was a statement about who Romanian Americans are and what we bring to this country. It was where the diaspora saw itself reflected, where Americans unfamiliar with Romania discovered something worth knowing, and where the next generation of Romanian Americans could feel the pull of a heritage worth carrying.

Among its most meaningful moments: the annual celebration of Ziua Iei - Universal Romanian Blouse Day - held on The Wharf's stage, spearheaded by Romanians of DC and honoring the Proclamation issued by Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, the first official recognition of the Romanian ie by a foreign public official. Small gestures like that carry weight. They say: we are here, we are seen, and our culture belongs in this city.

Its absence this summer, in a year when America marks its 250th anniversary alongside its allies, leaves a real gap. We hope it is a pause, not an ending. The Romanian Weekend at The Wharf built something that takes years to create - in audience, in trust, in visibility - and it deserves to continue.

FORA remains committed to honoring that spirit. This year, we celebrate the 10th edition of the Romanian Heritage Awards, and we carry forward the same belief that drives everything we do: that Romanian-American culture is worth celebrating, worth protecting, and worth passing on.

We are grateful to the Embassy of Romania and the Romanian Cultural Institute in New York for four extraordinary editions. Romania was lucky to have such dedicated ambassadors of its culture. The Wharf won't be the same this July.

Raluca Bucur President, Federation of Romanian-American Organizations (FORA)