The weekend of September 22-24 finds us celebrating the unique connection that Romania has with Serbia via water! The September activity within the cultural project "Ecluze pe Bega" is called "Peisaj în mis̗care" (Landscape in motion), aiming to promote the cultural landscape, navigability, and alternative mobility on the Bega Navigable Canal and its banks. For the first time in 65 years, a border crossing point with Serbia by water, designed for small vessels, will be opened.

 

The last passenger vessel crossed the border in 1958, and the water connection was subsequently interrupted due to the political context at that time. We sound an alarm regarding the necessity to create new tourist or commercial routes between the two neighboring states and promote the opportunity to rediscover the rich history of Banat navigation.

 

It will be a weekend full of events and action on the Bega! What does next weekend look like for us, and where can you join us?

 

Day 1 • 22nd of September • Friday 

• 12:00 PM • We depart from Timișoara aboard the Pelican, heading to Otelec. The journey takes approximately 5 hours. If you wish to go aboard the Pelican, please register here. Also, please note that we 𝗖𝗔𝗡𝗡𝗢𝗧 provide transportation back to Timișoara!

• 5:30 PM • Arrival in Otelec, we dock at the old village port, which has been a tourist destination for Timișoara residents for decades.

• 6:00 PM - 00:00 AM • You can cool off with a beer or lemonade at the old Otelec port aboard the Pelican, the only mobile bar in Timișoara, a legendary vessel restored with considerable effort by its current owners.

• 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM • Leisure boat rides on the Bega in the Otelec port area with the Timișoara canoe. The boat was built in July by students from the Babel School, with the support of master carpenter Viorel Gheorghe (Mila 23 Ivan Patzaikin/Rowmania Association). We rediscover the biodiversity of the Bega and the unique beauty of #OurRiver.

• 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM • We visit the Old School of Otelec, a unique collection of Banat cultural heritage maintained by sculptor Geza Molnar. We enjoy the surprises prepared by the Otelec Town Hall in the village port area and engage in outdoor discussions around a campfire about the opportunity to resume navigation on the Bega and the importance of reconnecting the localities along the watercourse.