Hundreds, even thousands of lei were offered for the best looking trees at the Christmas Tree Ball. At total of 41,6 thousand lei in earnings, the organizers stated they were satisfied with their result. Part of the money will be given to the participants, the rest will cover organization costs, IPN reports.
The battle royal revolved around the “Thread by Thread” needlework tree, which started off at 800 lei and spiked up to 6500. Its author, a student from the Technical University of Moldova, Cristina Zolotaia says she put her soul into that tree, wishing for it to be the best. It took her two weeks to complete this work.
Valentin Bostan, winner of last year’s grand prize, exhibited his “King of Pines”, which weighed a hefty 30kg, and wore a ten thousand lei price tag. The pine is made out of lime wood and, the author says, it took him six days of uninterrupted work. The work sold for slightly more than its initial markup.
Another tree, dubbed “Fireworks”, sold to a company for ten thousand lei, was made using the point-to-point technique on glass, by University of Pedagogy Student Eugenia Teguța, who participated for the first time this year. “My project was inspired from fireworks - an objection of personal fascination since childhood; I used to believe it was a miracle that occurred in the sky. It took me five days and five nights,” said the young lady.
Nata Albot, Klumea founder, said that this was the first time when the auction was open for everyone, instead of invitation-based and restricted to businesspeople and companies. Anyone with a ticket could get involved.
The jury awarded four contest winners, along with a Public Choice award. The winners received money and prizes from the event’s sponsors and partners.
The Christmas Tree Ball also hosted a Christmas Fair, which offered artifacts by local craftsmen. The participants enjoyed a caroling concert and live music from the Via Dacă band.
