Karpatia Horse Show gets bigger and better in 2022! One of the most awaited equestrian competitions and equestrian lifestyle events in Romania and South-East Europe will take place on the weekend of September 23-25 at the Cantacuzino Estate in Florești, Prahova. This year’s equestrian event will turn into a spectacular show, where riders from Romania and other corners of the world, as well as great Masters of Driving, will show their skills in the art of equestrian sport.
The 7th edition will welcome its audience with Dressage, Cross country and Show Jumping competitions, the traditional 2 Star International Eventing Competition, and other spectacular activities for equestrian event lovers on the Cantacuzino Estate, a perfect place to gather with family, friends or business partners.
The main novelties this year are the extension of the programme on the Friday and Saturday of the event – 23 and 24 September – by including live concerts following the competition times. The concert stage will have the “Little Trianon” palace and the centenary plane tree as backdrop, aiming to capture memorable sunsets. The lawn area in front of the stage will be extended to include spaces dedicated to relaxation and gourmet tastings in the most spectacular area of the park. The organisers are also opening a camping area that will allow those who wish to stay on the field throughout the three days to camp on the estate.
“Karpatia Horse Show has become over the past six editions more than just an equestrian event. It is an equestrian festival, a state of mind, an expression of the joy of being in a special natural setting, surrounded by beautiful horses, ambitious athletes and people eager to experience memorable moments in a unique atmosphere. Every year over the last weekend of September, we recreate this atmosphere in the vast and elegant space of the Cantacuzino Domain at Florești.
We promote belonging to a set of values and a lifestyle inspired by the nobility of the estate and horses that compete with grace and elegance. At the same time, we train the next generation of top Romanian riders and give the opportunity to already established riders to practice their skills in front of a large audience”, says Mihnea Vîrgolici, Event Director.
Three days of diverse sporting and entertainment experiences:
Friday: competition, relaxation and unwinding;
After watching the dexterity of the riders dexterously competing in the dressage trials, spectators can relax in the Domain Park and let themselves be enchanted by the magic of live jazz music. The concert will begin at sunset against the backdrop of the illuminated silhouette of the ”Little Trianon” Palace.
Saturday: adrenaline and exploration
Spectators will be fascinated by the spectacular cross-country challenge that runs and should be followed across the entire course, and the fixed natural obstacles with surprising design elements will be the focal points in evaluating competitors’ jumps.
Saturday will also see the marathon event take place, held by the Grand Masters of Two-in-Hand Driving, with dizzying passes through the spectacular water obstacle or the maze obstacles on the edge of the forest. This will be a special occasion for the public to discover the magic of this sport in which Romania excels!
In addition, we are extending Saturday’s programme with a live concert in tune with the dynamics of the day!
Sunday: a day of exuberance and imagination
The last day of the Karpatia Horse Show marks the end of the full competition with the classic show jumping event. The Two-in-Hand Driving Masters will conclude the demonstration competition in front of the arena with the cones event, and then electrify the atmosphere with Four-in-Hand Driving demonstrations.
The day’s programme includes numerous other equestrian demonstrations and parades throughout the field, an opportunity to discover this exceptional historical monument to Romania’s heritage, which the Cantacuzino Foundation is striving to restore and bring back to life.
Children attending the event will receive special attention: they can enjoy their first riding lessons, they will benefit from the Adventure Park and creative workshops, while their parents relax in the nearby food & drink areas or take them on electric bike rides on the estate.
Tickets and subscriptions purchased in advance on the event website – Bilete – Karpatia Horse Show– and at ticketing outlets bilete.ro benefit from discounts of up to 50%. Children between 3 and 14 years of age benefit from preferential prices and are only allowed to enter with their parents. Children up to 2 years old have free access.
Until 21 September:
- the price for a 3-day pass for the show is 90 lei for adults, 130 lei for an adult + 1 child and 170 lei for an adult + 2 children.
- Single day tickets: 23, 24 or 25 September: 60 lei for adults, 90 lei for an adult + 1 child and 115 lei for an adult + 2 children.
On the days of the event, single day tickets can also be purchased at the access points in the Cantacuzino Estate – Florești, Prahova at the price of 75 lei for an adult and 40 lei for a child.
More details and pictures from previous editions and information about this year’s edition can be found on our official pages:
Website: Karpatia Horse Show
Facebook: Karpatia Horse Show
Instagram: Karpatia Horse Show (@karpatiahorseshow)
YouTube: Karpatia Horse Show
To get into the Karpatia Horse Show atmosphere, we invite you to watch the promotional video of the 2022 edition here
Karpatia Horse Show, 7th Edition is an event organized by: the Equestrian Association of Domeniul Cantacuzino, Domeniul Cantacuzino and Rumor Consult in partnership with the International Equestrian Federation and the Romanian Equestrian Federation.
Main partners: Pluriva, ENGIE România, AQUA Carpatica, Domeniile Sâmburești, Michelin, Gonzales Groupe, Glamour Floors, Martini, Metaxa, The Botanist, Zetea.
Partners: “Paul Constantinescu” Philharmonic in Ploiesti, Romanian Fencing Federation, MSL Logistics, Simar Industrial and Simar SA.
Media Partners: Magic FM, Adevărul, Dilema Veche, Historia, Newsweek, Business Review, Wall-Street, Start-up, Financial Intelligence, Revista BIZ, Transilvania Business, IQads, Smark, Grupul Observatorul PH, 9Am, Alist, Kudika, Garbo, Urban, TukTuk , Qbebe, Suntparinte, Clopoțel.ro
Note to editors
Photo link: https://we.tl/t-GGuac4UXf6
6th edition, 2019
Karpatia Horse Show attracted a record number of over 12 thousand spectators at the previous edition, held in 2019, marking the most successful show since the first event was held in 2014.
The 2019 edition hosted a first for equestrian sport in Romania: the organization of a 4* International Eventing Competition that brought valuable scores for qualification to the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games (*organized in 2021). The big winner of the competition was Nicolas Wettstein from Ecuador, on his horse Altier D’Aurois, an athlete who showed exceptional skills in Dressage, Cross-Country and Show Jumping.
Event retrospective (2014 – 2022)
In the previous six editions, hundreds of horses have performed in front of enthusiastic audiences, participating in National and International Eventing, Working Equitation and the spectacular demonstrations of the Masters of Driving. The event hosted horses, riders and officials from Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary, Ecuador, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Ireland, India, Great Britain and Romania.
The Karpatia Horse Show aims to contribute to the education of the Romanian public, who are showing more and more interest every year in the Cross-Country events, part of the Eventing Competition, as well as in the two- and four-horse driving demonstrations. Moreover, they became familiar with Working Equitation, a relatively new sport in Romania, and began to instill in their children love and curiosity for the equestrian sport.
The high number of spectators, both from the stands and from the spectacular obstacle areas set up throughout the field, proved that the popularity of these events is constantly growing, and the registration of more competitors, both from Romania and abroad, demonstrates the contribution of Karpatia Horse Show to the development of equestrian culture in Eastern Europe and the Balkans.
<<We have very high ambitions for the 7th Karpatia Horse Show>>
“In 2014, the year of the inauguration of the Karpatia Horse Show, the Eventing Show had almost disappeared in Romania. While the first year we had only 10 riders taking part in this discipline, the last edition (2019) saw around 70 horse-rider couples enter the competition. Karpatia Horse Show has a major contribution to the development of this branch of Romanian equestrian sport.
The competition has already become a reference in Eastern Europe and the Balkans, and is a source of inspiration for many sports federations in developed countries, as evidenced by the questions about how we have revived the tradition of this sport, but especially about how we manage to attract the public. For the 2022 edition we want to keep the same cocktail of sport-entertainment-show-excitement-adrenaline”, says Mihnea Vîrgolici, director of Karpatia Horse Show.
One of the central elements of the Karpatia Horse Show is its historical prestige: the origin of the sport is linked to the races in which members of noble families and later cavalry officers took part in the past, proving the exemplary qualities of pedigree horses.
This sport has been practiced in Romania since the middle of the 19th century, in sync with countries such as England and France. The brilliance of this era is also reflected in the way the park of the Cantacuzino Domain was designed, including for hunting and horse riding, and especially in the architecture of the Little Trianon Palace, both of which are typical of the 19th century and of Romania’s aspirations at the time. All these elements represented the vision of Gheorghe Grigore Cantacuzino. Nicknamed “Nababul”, he was an emblematic personality of the era and a member of an old Byzantine noble family, which gave Romania famous noblemen and personalities in most fields of scientific and economic activity.
From another perspective, the Complete Competition organised in Floresti occupies a special place on the international map also for the qualities of the competition course. In the opinion of the international judges, the site contains one of the most beautiful courses in the world for holding such a competition due to the varied qualities of the terrain, its landscape and the rare trees in the dendrological park. During the six editions, together with specialists from abroad, an impressive number of more than 100 obstacles have been arranged to the millimeter for the distance required for the Cross-Country event, which in 2019 reached a length of 6000 metres in the 4* event, the obstacles being distributed almost over the entire 150 hectares of the Cantacuzino Estate at Florești (Prahova).
Creative activities for the whole family
Karpatia Horse Show brings together lovers of equestrian sport, nature and elegance every year. Thus, the event hosts an annual equestrian lifestyle fair featuring equestrian-themed clothing, accessories and objects, organic products and gourmet cuisine.
There are also guided tours and talks, and the little ones always enjoy a variety of activities including horse riding lessons, carriage and mini jeep rides, adventure and fun park, numerous creative workshops and more.
The participation in the event also includes a charitable component, as part of the funds raised through the sale of tickets will be directed towards the consolidation of the Domain, the Little Trianon Palace and the Water Tower, which require immediate restoration. At the same time, the public donated school supplies for the needy children of Florești, and members of The Story of Autism Centre were present at the event to help raise awareness of this cause.