Best of Budapest & Hungary

The Czech Republic will be this year's guest of honor, and the ingredients of the folk cuisine will be the main theme of the Festival of Arts, which will take place from August 18 to 20 in the Buda Castle.

    Visitors will be able to see the handicrafts of around a thousand Hungarian and foreign craftsmen and try them out in almost a hundred exhibition workshops, the organizers said in a statement on Monday.

    The festival will feature children's programs, children's folk games and old-time folk games, while adults will be welcomed with a fashion show and dance hall in the Buda Castle's civic area, on the Árpád Tóth promenade, in Mihály Táncsics and Tárnok streets, and from Szentháromság Square to Dísz Square.

    This year, the festival will bring together craftspeople from the Czech Republic in cooperation with the Stráznice-based National Folk Art Institute, whose workshops will offer visitors the chance to learn traditional folk crafts, including weaving, blue-dyeing, embroidery and wool processing. 

    The theme of this year's event is linked to the commemorative year held on the 200th birth anniversary of the 19th century Hungarian poet, Sándor Petőfi, citing one of his poems: "I turned into the kitchen." The focus is on the utensils of the folk peasant kitchen. Artisans will showcase kitchen utensils that can be useful accessories in today's modern kitchens, such as pottery, baking and cooking utensils, home and kitchen textiles, storage containers, and utensils made of wicker, chaff and wicker.

    This year marks the 20th anniversary of Hungary's accession to the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, and the event will therefore give a special focus to communities representing crafts inscribed on the UNESCO National and Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage. Among other things, the Kalocsa, Matyó and Sárvár craft traditions, the Mohács bushos, the living tradition of blue painting and egg writing, the Hövej lace, the Szeged slippers and the gentleman's embroidery will be presented.

    This year's folkTREND! fashion show will again feature the work of designers who are drawing on traditional dress culture to create clothing and accessories collections that meet the needs of the 21st century. This year, for the fifth time, the competition is open for entries and the winning designs will be on display.

    The musical program will include performances on the main stage in Szentháromság Square by the Tatros Ensemble, Sára Tímár and her orchestra, Mónika Lakatos and Romengo, the dance troupes of the National Children and Youth Folk Art Association of Heritage, the Dezső Fitos Company and Szalonna and her band.   

    The House of Traditions awaits children on the Fabatka Porta folk playground on Dísz Square with puppet theater, lap games, storytellers, children's concerts and dance lessons, as well as craft activities. In the castle area, town criers, stilt-walkers and showmen will create a fair atmosphere, and on August 20, a bread offering and a parade of craftsmen will celebrate St Stephen's Day and the Feast of New Bread.