The calendar
What's on in Craiova
The Christmas market, Craiova Days, the Shakespeare festival and the rest of the Craiova year, soonest first. Confirmed dates are shown as they are; estimates are marked ≈, because around here a date without a source is usually wrong.
Elena Teodorini International Festival
Opera Română Craiova
The Romanian Opera's autumn season, spread over weeks rather than packed into one — the 2026 edition is its nineteenth, twelve events between 27 September and 19 November. Named after the Craiova-born soprano who sang La Scala in the 1880s. Individual performances are ticketed through the opera house.
Craiova Christmas Market
Piața Mihai Viteazul · +1 more dates
The reason Craiova is on anyone's December list. It opens in mid-November — about a fortnight before Sibiu, Bucharest and Brașov — which for two weeks makes it the only large Christmas market open in Romania. Free to enter, in Piața Mihai Viteazul, and it runs to the first days of January. The 2026 edition is themed Tărâmul elfilor, the elves' realm.
New Year's Eve in Piața Mihai Viteazul
Piața Mihai Viteazul · +1 more dates
The free open-air New Year's Eve party in the main square, inside the Christmas market, with a concert programme and fireworks at midnight. No ticket, no reservation; the square fills from about ten.
ExpoFlora
Strada Theodor Aman
The flower and garden fair that runs alongside Craiova Days, laid out along Strada Theodor Aman in the old town. A selling exhibition rather than a show — growers from across Oltenia, and the one weekend of the year when that street is worth walking for its own sake.
Approximate — this one moves by a week or two each year. Confirm with the organiser.
Craiova Days
Piața Mihai Viteazul
The city's own festival: a free concert stage in Piața Mihai Viteazul, a children's parade along Strada A. I. Cuza, and programmes from the Colibri theatre, the Oltenia Philharmonic, the Romanian Opera and the Maria Tănase folk ensemble. It lands in the first week of June, tied to Children's Day on the 1st, but the exact days are set each spring by the city hall.
Approximate — this one moves by a week or two each year. Confirm with the organiser.
The fixed points of the Craiova year
- Mid-November to early January — the Christmas market in Piața Mihai Viteazul. The 2026 edition opens on 13 November and runs to 3 January 2027, themed Tărâmul elfilor. The opening date is the whole point: for about a fortnight Craiova is the only large market open in Romania, before Sibiu, Bucharest and Brașov start. Free, and the free New Year's Eve party is in the same square.
- Late May, every second year — the International Shakespeare Festival, run by the Marin Sorescu National Theatre. The 2026 edition filled eleven days with something close to five hundred events in more than sixty venues, a good many free and outdoors. It is biennial, so the next one is 2028 — and it is the one event here worth building a trip around.
- First week of June — Craiova Days, with a free stage in Piața Mihai Viteazul, the children's parade along Strada A. I. Cuza, and the ExpoFlora flower fair on Strada Theodor Aman beside it. Tied to 1 June, but the city hall sets the exact days each spring.
- Late September into November — the Elena Teodorini Festival, the Romanian Opera's autumn season, named for the Craiova soprano who sang at La Scala in the 1880s. Twelve events spread over seven weeks rather than crammed into one, ticketed individually.
- Mid-September — the Craiova Jazz Festival, three days, programme announced only a few weeks ahead.
- All season, fortnightly — Universitatea Craiova at home. A league fixture at the Ion Oblemenco rarely sells out; a derby does. This is the most reliable thing in the calendar and the easiest to get into.
What you may read elsewhere, and should not plan around
IntenCity. Craiova's big summer music festival was announced for 2026 and then dropped when the city budget was not approved in time; a reduced "Classical Edition" ran over two September evenings at the Polyvalent Hall instead. Listings sites kept advertising the summer dates after it was cancelled. If you see it announced, confirm it with the Romanian Opera before you book anything.
Anything on a "top festivals in Oltenia" page. The potters' fair at Horezu, the monastery feast days at Hurezi and Tismana, the village *nedei* — these are real, and almost none of them publish a date more than a month ahead. The dated list below contains only what has a source. For everything else the honest answer is to ring ahead, and the numbers are on the individual pages.
Dates marked ≈ above are estimates from the usual pattern. Confirm with the organiser before planning around one.
Where to stay nearby
Live prices and availability on a map centred on this exact spot — hotels, apartments and hostels, so you can judge the walk from here rather than guess from an address.
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