Trending weekend in Bucharest, December 6-7: Book fair at Romexpo, Ștefan Bănică at Sala Palatului, the big emo reunion and where to eat a good Syrian barbecue
The Santa Claus weekend, with low temperatures and the first serious signs of winter, comes exactly like this: two days in which Bucharest shines a light on its good habits, whether they catch you in a cafe with a hot chocolate, in a concert hall with a festive atmosphere, but where the frost remains outside or among bookshelves that smell of vacation.
You can drink coffee at Almond Cafe (St.Cpt.Demetriade 10), especially if you want to get out of the hustle and bustle of the city for an hour or two. Almond Café has recently opened and is a place for coffee, teas, desserts and light lunches. In addition, it has a calm and bohemian atmosphere, perhaps because it is located inside the Olovina Garden.
For a special brunch, you can definitely go to Cambun (Aricescu 42). Dragoș Mihăilă tested it recently and writes the following in the review on b365.ro:
“On the menu you can feel Chef Chelaru's native Bacăul, probably grown at the end of the pan, among steaming pots, borscht, polenta cut with papiota thread, layers with leustean, dollops and eggplants baked on the board. In all the dishes you can find the nostalgia of the clean ingredients from the grandmother's garden, of the fir buds picked at the beginning of summer (see the cocktail non-alcoholic Borșonada), Ignat's pork and culinary adventures around Romania.
For me, a peasant from Piatra Neamț, Cambun was a small return (with a stick) to my origins: to the borscht stuffed “di mămica” (with huşte from Aunt Coca), to the fragrant eggplants, to the omnipresent leuștean and to the goodness of the dried molasses at the bottom of the cauldron. I don't know how it was for you, but for me, polenta could be a main course and side dish and dessert. Cold polenta dipped in sugar? The food of champions! Morning, noon and night.”
Another place recommended by Dragoș Mihăilă and only good to try this weekend is The Citadel of Aleppobuilt in Colentina (Soseaa Colentina no. 373) with Syrian specifics.
“In these times of austerity, the phrase 'cheap and good' seems increasingly hard to believe and swallow. That's why we have suburban Bucharest, with Colentina and the Aleppo Citadel, conceived more than 10 years ago, on Colentina Road no. 373. No one leaves the city of Aleppo hungry or with an empty wallet. Prices seem stuck in time, barbecue is barbecue, couriers come and go, and there is no shortage of buyers. Some time ago, there was a big schism in the citadel, as a result of which the Grill of Aleppo broke away from the fortress, and the mouth of the world has not yet decided where the food is tastier: at the citadel or at the grill?”, writes Mihăilă on b365.ro.
event
For those who need the calm and predictable pace of a book fair, Gaudeamus 2025 reopens its doors at Romexpo: more than 180 participants, launches, discussions and a daily program between 10:00 and 20:00.
A few steps from the pavilions, the Kendama Open Contest, the local community's annual event, also takes place on Saturday, with events for all levels. Participation is free, but is done exclusively on the basis of online registration.
After dusk, Encore Club enters another register. Cosmin Lupu comes with an acoustic concert in which he also presents new songs, in a narrow, carefully crafted format. The program starts at 20:00, and tickets cost 50 lei. In the opening, Faliant plays, a young band from Bacău that moves freely between alternative and modern rock.
On Sunday, Control Club marks three years of SwordS – Spoken Word Sessions. It's the kind of project that feels better inside a room than in explanations: performative poetry, purposefully spoken text, music and visual interventions. The line-up brings together Dan Stoica, Cosmin Perța, Codruța Simina and Radu Nițescu, and Cinematica.Live is preparing an immersive finale. Access starts at 19:00, the show at 19:30, and tickets are 60 lei, in limited numbers. A good way to close the weekend if you need a different kind of contact with literature.
Also in the meeting area, but without the pressure of the cold outside, Unirea Shopping Center hosts, between December 5 and 7, the special edition COFFEEAST 2025. The winter edition brings dozens of regional exhibitors, tastings, demonstrations and a selection of design products. The program differs depending on the day, and tickets can also be bought on the spot; the price includes a drink at the Welcome Bar and access to multiple brewing points. If you have work downtown at the weekend, a detour through the festival can also solve the seasonal shopping.
Another area of the city is preparing, on Saturday evening, for Laidback #15 @ Random House Bucharest – a new episode of the series from Vasile Lascăr 69, where Vlad Dobrescu signs a DJ set built on rigorous selection and constant rhythm. The event starts at 20:30 and tickets are available through Eventbook.
For those who associate the beginning of December with live music in the classical sense, Sala Palatului is once again hosting the Christmas Concerts of Ștefan Bănică. Prices vary between 170 and 450 lei, and this year's edition also brings the “George Enescu” Symphony Orchestra from Botoșani to the stage. The show is scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, from 19:30.
At the opposite pole in terms of atmosphere, but not necessarily in intensity, Terasa Florilor proposes on Saturday evening an incursion into the Irish repertoire, signed by the band Pubside Stories. Tickets cost 40 lei online or 50 at the door, and the concert promises a relaxed evening, with acoustic instruments and stories between songs.
Sala Radio is preparing, on the same weekend, a humanitarian concert of carols – “The King of Kings”, with over 170 artists involved, from children's choirs to established ensembles. The program is built in two parts, with a break, and the event supports the “Support for Newborns” project. A broad show, suitable for those looking for a quiet introduction to the holiday season.
For a completely different register, Club 99 brings a stand-up show with Teo, Costel, Mihai Bobonete and Gabi Dumitriu on Saturday from 17:00. Tickets cost 104 lei, access is only allowed to those over 18, and the reservation is included if you buy the ticket online.
On the stage of the Roman Arenas, Oscar marks five years since the release of the albums Water and Stephen IIIwith a concert also scheduled for Saturday, from 6:00 p.m. Tickets start at 100 lei, and the setlist also includes premiered songs.
And for those who feel the need for a dose of nostalgia at the end of autumn, Club Quantic hosts Emo Reunion – a party that has turned its audience into a community over time. In a Bucharest that often changes things, the event remains one of the series that constantly returns to the same point: music and people who recognize each other. HVNDS is the surprise guest, the band that in recent years has taken the Romanian alternative scene by storm with their explosive shows, modern sound and hard-to-match energy. Tickets cost 64 lei.
Theater & film
At the Apropo Theatre, Novecento returns to the stage in a formula that puts exactly what it needs at the center: the story, the music and a main actor who knows how to take the text to that area where the audience stops breathing. Vlad Udrescu – double awarded in 2024 for this role – builds his character with a lot of naturalness, while the jazz score signed by Ștefan Stoianovici and the interventions of Sergiu Bivol turn everything into a jam session with an intensity that is difficult to capture in words. Daniel Simion's direction preserves the poetic fiber of Baricco's text and pushes it towards a cinematic form, not far from Tornatore's nostalgic film. It's a show for those who want pure emotion, without artifices, and for those who know how much a well-told story can weigh. December 7, 19:00, tickets 85 lei.
Also in the area where the theater becomes a short lesson about the world, “Zaharașka and the Forgotten Snow”, at the Bucharest Art Theatre, proposes a family story that speaks gently about a reality that is increasingly difficult to ignore: the loss of winters. Lavinia Pop-Coman and Ana Crăciun Lambru handle a universe of delicate characters created by Vladimir Zakharov, and the scenography and costumes complete a world where childhood becomes, in fact, the key to responsibility. Zaharaška, a little spirit of the forest, sets out on a quest that makes the little ones dream and the big ones remember. A show accessible to children from 3 years and up, carefully thought out and pace suitable for families. It is played on Saturday, from 12:00, and tickets cost 55 lei.
We have several premieres on the big screens. “Don't let me die” is a Romanian film that sits in a rare area, where vulnerability becomes the central character. “Don't Let Me Die” begins as an exercise in reminiscence, but subtly slides into a portrait of contemporary loneliness, where humor and dread collide without warning.
Another Romanian film, but from a completely different register, is “Christmas with Ramon”. The comedy with Pavel Bartoș returns to a familiar route: family, promises, seemingly impossible missions and that mixture of clumsiness and kindness that builds the character's identity. “Christmas with Ramon” follows Ramon's quest to find his missing niece, a race against time set just in time for the holidays.
“Eternity” opens the door to a disturbing concept: an afterlife where love, memory and time enter into negotiations. Joan is given a week to decide between the man who has been by her side all her life and her first love, left suspended in her youth. The film builds on distilled emotion, without artifice, relying on the tension between loyalty and desire, between what we keep and what we cannot forget. It's a visual meditation on impossible choices and how eternity can paradoxically be the hardest to take.
“Five Nights at Freddy's 2” is the sequel to the horror phenomenon that brings the animatronic universe back into the spotlight, but this time the tension moves from the closed space of the pizzeria to the heart of a community that turns trauma into local legend. “Five Nights at Freddy's 2” expands on the mythology of the first part, showing how Abby, in her quest to find her mechanical friends, reopens doors that should have remained closed. The film is darker, edgier, and more visually inventive, with a pace that leaves no room to breathe—exactly the kind of sequel that not only feeds fans' nostalgia, but also pushes the story into more dangerous territory.
