The time for Christmas fairs has passed. They've all been closed so far but I can't say goodbye to this topic before showing you how the Sibiu Fair, probably the most beautiful Christmas fair in Romania, was at night.
Because a fair covered with millions of lights can only be admired at night!
My previous writing about this fair, with a daytime presentation, ended with these words. I repeat them because they form the bridge between the two hypostases, day and night. Only seen together they give a more accurate picture of what they offered to the dozens of visitors.
This was a walk through the Christmas fair in Sibiu, in daylight and uncrowded conditions. In the evening things change radically... I will tell you about the night adventures on another occasion.
The other occasion is right now. I was in Sibiu, a city in Transylvania, on the day the Christmas Fair officially opened.
The distance between Bucharest, where I live, and Sibiu is 270 km, of which less than 100 km is highway and that makes about 4 hours of driving. This prevents me from going to Sibiu, a very beautiful and tourist-friendly city, as often as I would like. Because of this, the fact that I was there for the opening of this fair was an unexpected coincidence and due to good friends inviting me to another event.
Before I start this report I must say that because of the darkness and my lack of experience in night photography, the photos are probably not of the best quality, I hope, however, to reflect as real as possible what I saw there...
From the streets darkened by nightfall hundreds and hundreds of people, residents of the city, and tourists who came especially for this event, started towards the entrance of the Christmas Fair.
Together with all these people I entered the perimeter of the fair, which was the Big Square, the most famous square in Sibiu. Here were placed, quite cramped, a hundred stalls like small wooden houses, places for sale.
The fact that it was the first day (night) of the fair made the place uninhabitable for visitors, especially young people and teenagers but also many children accompanied by parents and grandparents.
What surprised me from the first moment was... the lack of light. Then I understood. The street lights in the square were turned off to allow the illuminated ornaments to be put up.
The great curtain of bulbs.
Also to let the tree made of bulbs look better.
Also to make the projections on the buildings in the square more visible.
I think the organizers were also counting on the place to be illuminated brightly enough by the lights in every little house, which didn't happen.
It was more of a festival of lights!
All the visitors walked mostly with their heads turned back and their eyes on the lights above.
Even the special places for children were dimly lit but they were not at all upset by this. The train that rode around a big snowman (made of polyester because it hadn't snowed yet) was a big attraction for them.
The only place better lit was the carousel.
And yet, the light from the houses was pretty good too, enough to see where you were walking.
I don't want it to be understood that I am criticizing the fact that the inside of the fair is not better lit. I could see that it didn't bother anyone. All the visitors behaved civilized and nobody took advantage that it was darker in some places. Groups of friends who wanted to see each other better used the places where they could have a glass of mulled wine and take advantage of the interior lighting of the stalls.
Since I mentioned wine I must also mention food.
One of the attractions of these winter fairs is the food.
Especially the meat and pies. Children are not really interested in this, but the food is a great pleasure for parents.
This is why the food area is the busiest.
Night sales differ from day sales. If during the day shops offering clothes, toys, food, and decorations are successful, at night they don't sell as much.
At night most people prefer to walk around and look at the lights and of these, the wheel lights are the most spectacular.
I found a high place on a specially arranged platform to watch the fair from above.
Next to the tree, there is also a stage for children.
Christmas is, after all, a children's holiday!
The most spectacular is the rain of stars, the curtain of bulbs that covers the fair. A winter wonderland. A world of fairytales and enchantment as only the winter holidays can offer.
We've entered the new year and the Christmas fairs have closed. Until next winter, only memories remain. Memories of childhood, of returning to the years of childhood.
Post made for #MarketFriday and the eternal Christmas lover, @dswigle, host of this challenge and this community. I've also marked the location of this town on the #pinmapple map, in case anyone wants to find it easier!
I'm keeping the tradition of ending with a flower, @alwysaflower! This time it won't even be a flower, it will be something flowers wouldn't exist without.
I try, when I use the #Photo-Travel tag, to write travel blogs, of different sizes and with lots of photos, because there are, in my opinion, two benefits that such blogs should and can bring. To let those who can't travel to a certain destination, SEE what it's like there (not to imagine) or, to help those who will travel there, to recognize the places seen in the photos, to be a kind of guide. Of course, for this, there must be many photos, but with the amendment that a short or medium explanation must be written for (almost) each of them!
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