The 18th festival-contest of Romanian romances “Silver Chrysanthemum” will take place in Chisinau during February 25-27. More than 30 singers and composers will participate in the festival and compete for the trophy of 12,000 lei and the special prize “Rica Ungureanu” of 8,000 lei, Info-Prim Neo reports. According to the deputy head of the Chisinau Council's Culture Division Leonid Gorceac, the 18th festival will bring together the most beautiful voices from Moldova, Romania and other countries that are home to Romanians. “Romance is a special kind of music that is very close to the heart. Though many considers it a song for the elderly people, more and more young singers come to take part in the festival and the concert halls are packed,” said Leonid Gorceac, who has helped organize the festival for 15 years. The festival “Silver Chrysanthemum” in Moldova is the 'younger sister' of the “Golden Chrysanthemum” in Romania, Targoviste, which is now at its 42nd edition. Among the winners of this contest are Margareta Ivanus, Daria Radu, Silvia Goncear, Cristina Pintilie and other valuable voices. The tradition of the founder of the festival in Targoviste, Rica Ungureanu, to come to Chisinau with presents is continued by the Targoviste City Hall. This time, they will donate 3,000 books worth over 500,000 Moldovan lei to the Chisinau libraries “Targoviste” and “B.P.Hasdeu” and the Writers Union of Moldova. The guests of the festival this year include Gheorghe Turda, Mariana Luca, Margareta Ivanus, Nicolae Glib, Silvia Goncear, and Cristina Pintilie. The festival-contest “Silver Chrysanthemum” will take place at “Mihai Eminescu” Theater. The festival's budget is over 300,000 lei. The money was allocated by the Chisinau administration.