Cenaclul Flacăra

Cenaclul Flacăra (Romanian for "The Flame Literary Circle") was a cultural and artistic movement in Socialist Republic of Romania led by poet Adrian Păunescu. Between 1973 and 1985, it organized shows and concerts which, although rebellious in comparison to the official entertainment, promoted Nicolae Ceaușescu's cult of personality and the ideology of National Communism.

Cenaclul Flacăra organized 1615 shows of music, poetry and dialog throughout the country, having more than 6 million spectators. The spectacles had a strong influence over the Romanians, especially the Romanian youth and spread his own ideology, a mix of left-wing Western-influenced ideas with Romanian nationalism.

Adrian Păunescu, despite having a famously rebellious attitude towards the political regime in the 1960s, eventually became closer ideologically to then communist head of state Nicolae Ceaușescu. This transformation allowed him to become the editor-in-chief for the cultural magazine Flacăra in 1973, and, in the September of same year, he used the authority from his position to form "Cenaclul Flacăra al Tineretului Revoluționar" (The Flame Literary Circle of the Revolutionary Youth), or Cenaclul Flacăra for short. For several years, Cenaclul Flacăra held regular poetry readings, some of which were recorded and parts of which were broadcast on National TV. The events were initially held on Monday evenings at the Ion Creangă Theatre in Bucharest.

On March 18, 1976, in Bucharest, Cenaclul Flacăra held its first larger scale event. Called "Festivalul Primăverii" (Spring Festival), it was attended by more than 8000 people. Spectators chanted nationalist slogans throughout the show, including some referring to Bessarabia's annexation by the Soviet Union. (see Bessarabia in Romanian-Soviet relations).

Though similar events were later held throughout the country, "Festivalul Primăverii" marked an important part in the development of Păunescu's career, demonstrating his abilities as an able propagandist to the Communist Party leadership. While the chanting of pro-government, pro-cult of personality slogans and other superficially propaganda like activities continued to play a prominent part of events, the music, poetry and other art featured was relatively unrestricted and had little direct outside censorship, when compared to outlets available at the time.

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