With over 25 years of experience in developing the Creative Industries Movement in Romania, THE INSTITUTE Foundation launches Bucharest Design Festival BDF, a celebration of design and its role in connecting the city with people. The event explores and promotes the intersections between design, city and people, bringing together for one month professionals, emerging creators, organizations, communities and the general public in a complex program of exhibitions and events taking place in over 100 locations across Bucharest.
Between May 20 and June 21, 2026, the festival brings together, within a unified framework, THE INSTITUTE’s iconic projects: Romanian Design Week, DIPLOMA Show and Cartierul Creativ, alongside new formats and initiatives.
Why Bucharest Design Festival BDF is needed
Bucharest is a city defined by paradoxes, contrasts and intersections, with urban potential still in the process of being fully leveraged. Although the local scene is dynamic and relevant, creative energies often remain dispersed, and the city lacks a unifying moment, recognizable at national level, capable of connecting these initiatives into a coherent platform.
Bucharest Design Festival appears as a response to this reality. A festival created from the city’s energy, built on a foundation of over 25 years of experience, which transforms design into a strategic instrument for connection between residents, communities and the urban space.
In this context, THE INSTITUTE assumes a natural progression: from expertise in project design, where each intervention shapes spaces, processes and experiences, to initiating Bucharest Design Festival as a platform for convergence and dialogue, reaching a deeper level: the design of the relationship between Bucharest and its residents.
Made of Bucharest. Connected by Design
To mark the launch of the festival, THE INSTITUTE presents a video manifesto, a visual statement about the creative potential that Bucharest has. The video is available on the official festival channels and complements the message “Made of Bucharest. Connected by Design.”
Manifesto Bucharest Design Festival BDF
Statement Andrei Borțun
“Bucharest Design Festival is the design festival that could only be born here, in and from Bucharest, the city of contrasts, tensions and unexpected intersections. Bucharest is a context city, but also a catalyst. A place where East and West, old and new, functional and chaos collide and constantly ignite new ideas. In this context, BDF functions as a strategic project for Bucharest, connecting communities, industries and ideas to stimulate a culture of design as a common language,” declares Andrei Borțun, CEO THE INSTITUTE Foundation.
The foundation: an ecosystem built over more than 25 years
BDF is the result of an ecosystem built by THE INSTITUTE Foundation over more than 25 years of projects that have redefined the local creative scene and contributed to the modernization of cultural infrastructure in Romania.
13 years of Romanian Design Week: The platform for design professionals. RDW has become a regional benchmark for excellence in design and a model for making visual culture accessible to a broad audience.
12 years of DIPLOMA Show: The community of emerging artists, designers and architects. DIPLOMA Show contributes to strengthening a new generation of creative leaders.
9 years of Cartierul Creativ: The program that uses the talent and strength of creative communities for a better Bucharest. An urban regeneration project developed in central Bucharest, activating communities, organizations and cultural spaces within a coherent creative ecosystem.
Through these initiatives, THE INSTITUTE has consolidated a community made up of entrepreneurs, professionals and an audience passionate about the creative industries, supporting their interests in relation to state institutions and international organizations.
Bucharest Design Festival therefore represents the next step and becomes the largest creative festival in and for Bucharest, aiming to connect and amplify these initiatives at an important moment for the city.
Structure of Bucharest Design Festival
The first edition of the festival presents 6 formats, each organized in sections and micro zones across Bucharest, including dedicated exhibitions and events:
BDF Highlights Branding Romania Through Creativity brings forward creators and projects that represent Romania abroad and demonstrate how local creativity becomes a strong cultural ambassador for the country.
BDF Professional continues the Romanian Design Week commitment to supporting and developing design and architecture practices. Local and international design exhibitions are organized, professional dialogues take place, and designers, architects, studios and organizations present their projects and vision for a better quality of life, making them visible to a broad audience.
BDF Young continues the DIPLOMA Show mission of offering a stage to the new generation of creatives. This year’s format is built around a large exhibition that maps the professional trajectory of former DIPLOMA Show exhibitors, commenting on how the post graduation years have shaped their artistic identity and professional path.
BDF Communities, signed by Cartierul Creativ, focuses on collaboration and the energy of creative communities that shape urban identity. The program activates the city through urban interventions and curated exhibitions in three micro zones: Amzei, Grivița and Brezoianu.
BDF Satellites comes with a selection of independent initiatives that complement the central program and extend the festival’s presence throughout the city. By integrating them, BDF offers Bucharest residents and tourists an additional reason to plan a cultural city break in Bucharest.
BDF GO! is a format that connects over 100 showrooms, galleries, creative hubs, studios, cultural organizations and local businesses into a dynamic urban route.
