“The Bear Dance Festival in Romania” photo tour
Includes NY customs, castles and Christmas markets
8 days
The Bear dance festival in Romania is a unique and fascinating tradition.
This photo tour is centered around it and also includes other traditions like the “The Goat”, people dressing in folk costumes, New Year celebrations, Romania’s charming castles, rural life and Christmas markets. And we hope for some snow.
This is the best time to photograph Romania if you are interested in culture, travel, street and people photography. Join us for this intriguing photo tour in Romania.
December 27 – January 3 (Valid for 2026-27 and 2027-28)
Prices
- 2500 EUR/person for a group of 3–6 participants if you sign up by December 30, 2025.
- 2700 EUR/person for a group of 3–6 participants if you sign up after January 1, 2026.
- Single room supplement: 400 EUR.
Suggested Itinerary – Bear Dance Festival in Romania
Day 1: 27th of December
Arrival and welcome to Romania!
Our photo tour starts in the city of Cluj in the Transylvania region of Romania and then continues to the eastern region of Moldova where the bear dance festivals take place. Starting in Cluj gives you the opportunity to visit more of the Transylvania region and also the option to join our pre-tour Christmas extension in Maramures region which is north of Cluj.
Upon arrival you will be transferred from the airport in Cluj to a hotel in the city center. In the evening you will visit the Christmas market in Cluj Napoca and have dinner. The local guide will welcome you and discuss the last details about the tour.
- Accommodation in Cluj Napoca.
Day 2: 28th of December
From Cluj we will travel to a town near Sibiu where at mid-day folk groups from the region gather for a celebration after the Christmas period. There will be people dressed in traditional clothes and folk music, a wonderful introduction into the Christmas and New Year traditions of Romania.
In the afternoon we will travel to Brasov, a charming medieval town which hosts a beautiful Christmas market in the old town.
- Accommodation in Brasov.
- Drive time: 4h30
Day 3: 29th of December
We will photograph the famous Bran Castle from the outside. The castle is known for its association with Dracula. You will now have the chance to learn its true story and uncover its mysteries. Due to its location, perched on top of rocks and surrounded by the forest, it makes for interesting photography, especially if there is snow.
Then we will travel to the region from where the bear dance tradition originates. It is celebrated during the New Year, with the purpose of driving away bad luck from the previous year.
Furthermore, it is supposed to bring good fortune, abundance, and prosperity for the year to come.
We will have a private encounter with a group of bears dancers. Moreover we will have the chance to see them perform in a nice environment and get to learn about this tradition and ask all the questions you may have.
- Accommodation near Comanesti.
- Drive time: 4h30
Day 4, 30th of December
Every year on this day takes place in Comanesti the biggest “bear dance” festival in Romania. You will witness and photograph people bringing to life customs from all over the region, amongst which “The dance of the Bear” is the most impressive. During the bear dance both man and women, young and old put on bear skins, dance and stroll through the town in an impressive and surreal display of color and liveliness. This will offer abundant opportunities for taking really unique shots and at the same time learning about this very special custom. There will be hundreds of people dressed in bear skins (in some years close to 1000). They will parade through the town and then perform on stage as part of a contest. We will spend the entire day at the festival until it gets dark.
Besides the bear dance, you will also see other interesting traditions like “The Goat”, “The Stag”, “The Horses”, “The Plow” and many more.
This will be the richest day of action of our “Bear Dance Festival in Romania” photo tour.
This will be the highlight of the tour. We invite you to discover more about this festival in hour blog post: The intriguing Bear Dance Festival in Romania.
- Accommodation near Comanesti.
Day 5, 31st of December
On this day there are another two smaller festivals which include the bear dance. In the morning we will go to one of the local festivals with only the local bear dance group participating. We will then travel back to Transylvania and on the way we will capture another New Year tradition where youth gather dressed in all kind of costumes and start the NY party from early in the morning.
In the evening we will arrive in Sibiu, the most charming town in Transylvania and the location of the best Christmas market in Romania.
You will participate in the New Year festivities at midnight and enter the new year in the main square of the town.
- Accommodation in Sibiu.
- Drive time: 5h
Day 6, 1st of January
Happy New Year!
We will start the year with a day trip to the beautiful countryside near Sibiu. First, we will visit a Roma (aka gypsy) coppersmith family and get to learn about their culture and craft. Furthermore, we will also photograph the fortification in Biertan and visit the Sighisoara medieval citadel, both UNESCO sites.
Finally we will be back in Sibiu for some blue photography at the Christmas market.
- Accommodation in Sibiu.
- Drive time: 3h
In the morning we will have a nice walk in Sibiu and then travel to Hunedoara where we will photograph the Corvin castle. Depending on the weather we may detour for some landscape photography in the mountains and villages near Sibiu. In the afternoon we will be back in Cluj where we say our farewell.
- Accommodation in Sibiu.
- Drive time: 3h
Day 8, 3rd of January 2026-Wednesday
This will be your departure day. We hope you thoroughly enjoyed the “Bear Dance Festival in Romania” photo tour and that you had a great start of the year.
Why travel with us
- Get a real taste of the country
- Experience only what truly interests you
Upcoming Tours
Extend your tour with the Christmas celebrations (Dec 23-27)
If you have the time, coming earlier for Christmas is a great idea as there are many traditions, caroling, people in traditional clothes, a festival, steam train and more. Please have a look at this itinerary and let us know if you are interested.
Our interview for B&H Photo Video
In 2024 we contributed to a podcast hosted by the American company B&H Photo Video about picturing world cultures. We discussed what is interesting to photograph in Romania, including the Bear Dance Festivals. You can listen to this podcast on the B&H site.
Suggested Itinerary Viewed On Map – Bear Dance Festival in Romania
Since 2011 Daniel Rosca organized over 70 photo tours in Romania and more recently in Greece, Bulgaria, Poland and Czechia. Some of the photo tours were private. And most of them were done in partnership with well-known photo tour companies and tour leaders like Natural Exposures (Dan Cox), Jim Cline Photo Tours (Ralph Velasco, Tonya Colson, Jeremy Woodhouse), Strabo Photo Tours (Kathy Adams, Tom Bol), Light and Land (Paul Sanders, Astrid McGechan), Dan & Jill Burkholder, Julie & Alan Ross, Photo Quest Adventures (Deanne Fitzmaurice – Pulitzer Prize Winner and owner of ThinkTank, Mirjam Evers, Najat Naba), Raul Touzon, Beniamino Pisati, Tim Volmer, Juris Kornets, Sorin Onisor and more. From all those, Daniel learned, improved and developed his own approach to photography which is best described as travel photography. He enjoys experiencing and photographing traditions and old ways of doing things, quaint towns, sites of historic importance and charming landscapes throughout the seasons. He focuses much more on “seeing”, approaching people, capturing stories, composing and simply enjoying the place and focuses less on camera technicalities.
He previously lived in Belgium, Poland, Turkey, Egypt and worked for Microsoft.
Services included for the “Bear Dance Festival in Romania” photo tour
- Trip planning and assistance before and during the tour by email and phone
- English speaking tour guide services throughout the program (accommodation and meals are included) with good photography knowledge
- Accommodation for 7 nights in double rooms with breakfast at 3-4* hotels in Cluj, Brasov, Sibiu and Comanesti.
- Transfer by 4 wheel drive car on the itinerary mentioned above
- Entrance tickets to tourist sites mentioned in the itinerary
Services which are not included in the tour price
- Meals. On average you can pay for a meal 15-20 EUR
- International flights
- Travel and medical insurance
Payment and Cancellation
- Down payment of 700 EUR/person to confirm the spot.
- Remaining balance due by November 7, 2026.
Cancellation Terms
- The down payment is non-refundable.
- If canceling participation after making the full payment:
- 40% penalty if canceling 49–25 days before the tour start date.
- 60% penalty if canceling 24–8 days before the tour start date.
- 75% penalty if canceling 7 days or fewer before the tour start date.
- Payment is expected by bank transfer. Payment by credit card or PayPal is possible, with an additional 5.5% fee.
- If we do not have at least 3 participants signed up 2 months before the tour start date, we will inform you and you will have two options:
- Cancel the tour and receive a full refund of the down payment. (We recommend buying flights after this date or choosing refundable tickets.)
- Discuss converting the tour into a private tour — adjusting the itinerary and the price (the price will usually increase for the same duration).
About The Tour – Bear Dance Festival in Romania
This is a cultural tour which focuses on photography by putting you in contact with interesting locals and also planning visits around interesting events and the good times of the day to take pictures. This means that on some days you might wake up early for sunrise or stay up late for sunsets and the blue hour, it is up to each participant though.
It also means that the tour plan is flexible and can be changed depending on weather conditions and photography opportunities found on the way.
Besides the planned visits at places of interest and people we’ve also planned time for 2-3 stops/day as we drive around the countryside as there are always unplanned very interesting photo opportunities, especially focused on people. It will be the tour guide or tour leader who will make the call where and when to make those additional stops.
You are expected to know how to handle your camera well and be an independent shooter. We haven’t planned picture review sessions during the tour but we may do one a few weeks after the tour.
Pictures from previous bear dance festivals in Romania, Christmas and the region
More pictures are posted below and in this Gallery.
