Every year, on June 24, Romanians celebrate midsummer and their traditional costume, honoring the Romanian blouse.
For many years Romanian women from all over the world have been celebrating on the 24th of June the tradition of the Romanian blouse. They wear it with pride, showcasing the beautifully hand-stitched historical patterns which have been a source of inspiration to many artists and designers worldwide.
Each blouse has a unique story; it carries a centuries-old code, passed on by women from one generation to the next, to express their wisdom and joy. The blouses have stories about life, beauty, nature, cosmos, and faith interwoven between their threads.
As of 2016 we’re also celebrating the Romanian blouse in the Netherlands. We meet in several cities, wearing our blouses, and we go cycle or walk together. It’s an opportunity to see each other again, to get to know other Romanians from our places of residence or from afar, to talk to each other, and to be proud of our traditional attire.
2017
In 2017 we’ve celebrated IA Day in 11 Dutch cities: Alkmaar, Amersfoort, Amsterdam, Deventer, Eindhoven, Groningen, the Hague, Haarlem, Maastricht, Rotterdam, and Utrecht.
In spite of the rather cloudy weather, we gathered wearing our Romanian blouses and we visited the places we intended. We enjoyed the day together and the sun did shine, eventually.
The purpose of this event is not to simply recall our tradition and identity, but also to celebrate nature and diversity, and to get to know each other better and share experiences.
Our partners this year have been: La Blouse Roumaine (the initiator of the event), Roemenië maar dan anders, RomAm Pro, and NetSib Foundation, our collaborators from Deventer.
2016
The Romanian community in the Netherlands has celebrated this year the traditional Romanian costume. On June 24, together with La Blouse Roumaine and Roemenië maar dan anders, ROMPRO has joined Romanians worldwide in celebrating the Romanian Blouse, an important part of the traditional Romanian attire.
Thanks to a dedicated team of volunteers we successfully managed to organize and coordinate an event which took place simultaneously in six different cities.
We would like to thank each one of the approximately 100 participants who came together in Alkmaar, Amsterdam, Eindhoven, The Hague, Groningen, and Rotterdam. We know everyone had a very pleasant afternoon in the company of old friends and new acquaintances, on bikes, picnicking, in cafes, or restaurants.
We know that among you there are many more who have joined us from afar, either virtually or in spirit. It was a tremendous joy to have received so many photos, positive reactions and messages. We are thankful for following us on social media, for participating in sharing the event and thus contributing to our mission to strengthen the Romanian community in the Netherlands.
We take this opportunity to express once more our gratitude to the organizers and coordinators who made this event possible: Stella Ananie, Elena van den Berg, Andreea Berkhout, Crista Blok, Liliana Polak-Bonea, Vlad Niculescu Dincă, Simona Dragomir, Corina Kroes Lazăr, Lucian Morariu, Ramona Sandu, Loredana Tripp, Voichița Zubașcu.
Many thanks also to everyone who filmed and made photos (among them: amsterdamming.com, danarozmarin.com and Cristina Stoian Portraits), to the Romanian Embassy in The Hague and the Radio România Actualități correspondent in the Netherlands, Claudia Marcu, as well as to our partners La Blouse Roumaine and Roemenië maar dan anders.
