La Francofonie has been celebrated outdoor in the campus of Bucharest's University of Agronomy on Friday by dozens of youths at a genuine picnic with wine and fruit from the university's research stations.
The celebration was included in a series of poetic picnics styled Haikunoi (editor's note: a pun combining the Japanese poem haiku and the Romanian for 'join us') that took place simultaneously in 54 places countrywide. The participants were asked to write a haiku and publish it on their own Facebook pages or on the one dedicated to the event, using the hashtag #Haikunoi2016. "It's a start. We promise to do more for the future," said university's rector Sorin Cimpeanu, adding that the university is honoured to participate in La Francophonie events.
The event was also attended by the French ambassador in Bucharest Francois Saint-Paul, who spoke - in French and Romanian - about the value of multilingualism in Romania. He praised the Romanians ability to learning several foreign languages and said that multilingualism is "an attractive economic stake" for foreign investors, and that Romania is "the most Francophone country in Europe."
The 'Poetic Picnic - Haikunoi2016' event is organized by the French Embassy and the French Institute in Bucharest, with support from the Group of Francophone Embassies, Delegations and Institutions (GADIF), of the French Lectorates, the French Alliances, the Francophone centres, houses, high-schools and libraries, and the French language departments of universities.