The International Meeting of Saxons from Transylvania returns to Sibiu. The German musician of Romanian origin Peter Maffay will hold a concert

Sibiu will once again host the International Meeting of the Saxons from Transylvania, between August 2 and 4, an event that brings together both the Saxon communities in Romania and the Saxons from the diaspora. The event will also be marked by an extraordinary concert by the German singer of Romanian origin Peter Maffay, a superstar in German rock, who will take to a stage in Romania for the first time, reports News.ro.

This year, its second edition takes place, the event being organized by the Democratic Forum of Germans from Transylvania together with the associations of the Saxons from Germany, Austria, the USA and Canada. Groups of participants are announced from all these states. About 10,000 visitors are expected at the event that will take place in the Great Square in Sibiu.

Born in 1949 in Braşov and emigrated with his family to the Federal Republic of Germany at the age of 14, in 1963, Peter Maffay is one of the best-known rock artists in Germany, with 20 albums reaching the first position in the music charts in his country and over 50 million records sold. This summer, Peter Maffay will take the stage in Piaţa Mare in Sibiu, on the last day of the meeting of the Transylvanian Saxons, on August 4, starting at 8:00 p.m. Peter Maffay’s show will be, perhaps, the only opportunity to see Peter Maffay live in concert in Romania, because this year the artist is on his farewell tour, which will end on July 20 in Leipzig.

The concert in Romania, organized independently of the artist’s official tour, is supported by the M&V Schmidt Foundation – the latter being also the organizer of Haferland Week, a cultural and ethnographic event in “Haferland” (Oatland), a region located between Braşov and Sighisoara; a project initiated by Peter Maffay and Michael Schmidt in 2013.

“The decision to hold this concert was one of the easiest I’ve ever made,” said Michael Schmidt, president of the M&V Schmidt Foundation. “Peter Maffay is an old and dear friend of mine and of Romania, and one of the things he cares about very much is to sing in front of the audience in his country of origin. This is probably the best gift we could give him. Many of us know him through the lens of his charitable work with the Tabaluga Foundation, an organization he founded and through which he provides support for children from disadvantaged backgrounds. This time, those who will visit Sibiu during the meeting of the Transylvanian Saxons will have the opportunity to see this great artist on stage, a complete musician whose creations cover multiple musical genres, from rock to children’s songs and musicals”.

In Romania, the Tabaluga Foundation operates in the village of Roadeş Casa Tabaluga – a complex program intended for traumatized and socially neglected children.

Spectators will also be able to witness popular and light music performances, traditional Saxon dances, the parade of popular harbors and other events organized by associations from several countries.

One of the central events of the event will be the exhibition marking the 800th anniversary of the awarding of the so-called “Diploma Andreane” (Diploma Andreanum), a document issued in 1224 by King Andrew II of Hungary granting the Saxons establish in Transylvania a series of administrative, fiscal and commercial privileges that remained in force for about 650 years. Even more importantly, the document established the legal identity of the Saxons in this province, providing a legal basis that ensured the survival of the Saxon community for eight centuries.