39th Fest­iv­al of Folk Arts, Day 2

During the Festival of Folk Arts, the courtyard of the Hungarian Heritage House becomes the home of folk crafts: a playhouse featuring all-day activities, handicrafts, woven bracelets, felted jewellery, rush wreaths, and painted pendants is waiting for visitors between 10 am and 7 pm. As part of the program, two times a day, folk costume shows reveal the richness of folk attire. The folk puppet theatre, the live music dance party, the storytelling sessions and folk music concerts ensure a great atmosphere.

Detailed programme

From 10 am to 7 pm    
Folk Playhouse 
Led by Bea Németh

Folk Playhouse, where you can create felt bracelets, necklaces, and earrings at the craft tables, is led by Bea Németh, felt maker and instructor at the Hungarian Heritage House, alongside the students of the craft courses at the Hungarian Heritage House.  

From 10 am to 7 pm    
Fabatka Porta 
Folk playground

The Fabatka Porta folk playground is a small family business, where the couple who dreamed up the toy designs initially aimed to arouse their children's interest in natural materials, Hungarian folk motifs and traditions. Thanks to the impact of new ideas, new tools and inspiring feedback, over the years, a whole little playground has come about under their wings, where the main jewel of the "Porta" is the carved wooden carousel decorated with painted tulips. Looking at the toys, it becomes clear that their favourite flower is the tulip, and many old objects are beginning to take on new life by being given new functionalities: a stool made from a mill table or the old beam scale turned into a balance toy. Young and old are all welcome who would like to test their skills at the Fabatka Porta playhouse. It's certainly worth it!

From 11 am to 12 pm        
Szilvia Bognár: Bedspread and Pillow 
Interactive family concert

Over the past thirteen years, thousands of children and their families have enjoyed the singer's interactive world music concerts, which include folk song arrangements, poems set to music, children's games, joint singing, dancing and traditions, customs and beliefs related to any given time of the year.
Her production "Breadspread and Pillow", which premiered in spring 2025, continues in the spirit of the previous performance with a new personal setup and instrumentation. It also preserves the connection to a given period of the year and current feast days, but its main feature is that it evokes certain moments of the playful customs of "children's weddings" and also real weddings. We can encounter customs such as the initiation of young lads into adulthood, doggerels, funny wedding scenes, various dances, or even the tradition of sitting on a chariot or carrying the marriage bed. Moreover, even the smallest "musicians" will not be left without corncob music and a wooden spoon (double bass) that can be played on the tummy…
In addition to kids' play songs, the concert features simpler match-making and wedding songs enriched with written musical interludes. Poems set to folk music tunes, the translations of Cheremiss poems by Sándor Weöres, and, of course, whooping and clap games are seamlessly linked to the wedding songs.
Performers:
Szilvia Bognár - voice
Klára Csernók - fiddle
Zoltán Kovács - Irish bouzouki
Gáspár Thorpe - guitar
Csaba Pengő - double bass
 

From 1 pm to 2 pm   
Pipiske or Bukor? 
The vast array of the folk costumes of the Galga region with Gergő Tóth

It's not lost, it's just transformed. We are in such a fortunate situation that even today, there are women in traditional baggy skirts among us who have never changed their attire or adopted new styles. This folk costume is also found near Budapest. A striking example of this is the famous region of Galgamente, which great ethnographers have also visited several times. Each village has its own folk customs, and the Galgamente is no different: we find eye-catching costumes one after the other, which sometimes differ only a little but at other times, greatly. We often confuse and treat them as a single entity. Gergő Tóth's folk costume show is meant to present these differences. He brings us beautiful costumes from several villages in this region.

From 2 pm to 2.15 pm   
Live storytelling 
Judit Mucza, the storyteller of the Living Tale Association  

Judit Muzsa is a folk storyteller and librarian. She grew up at the junction of Hortobágy and Lake Tisza. As a child, she was fascinated by her grandmother's stories, which have accompanied her ever since. For four years, she has been telling stories in local villages and library classes.

Zirano Theatre
From 3 pm to 3.30 pm     
Zirano Theatre: Pulcinella gardening 
Puppet show

Pulcinella is the Italian brother of Ladislaus the Valiant. He likes to eat, drink and sleep best, and he often suffers from the negative consequences of this. Not only because his wife, the charming Rosetta, is constantly fighting with him, but also because, while he is sleeping, a cunning and determined hare is eating the fruits of their garden. It is a hilariously funny puppet show accompanied by live music.
Directed by the Blattner Award-winning Géza Kovács
Designed and created by Szilárd Boráros
Performers: Zsófia Pfeifer, Péter Róbert Varga

From 3.40 pm to 4.45 pm     
Dance of the Little Ones 
Lap games, dance instructions for young and older kids with Zsuzsanna Kovács; music played by the Aranyalma Duo

This family program aims to introduce the youngest children to a broader range of traditions in a high-standard and authentic interpretation. They should actively (not as passive recipients) participate in the live music dance house for kids, in such a way that the dissemination of traditions is on a par with the entertainment factor. Our goal is primarily to help the kids discover the joy of dance, to teach the basics of dance movements, to create a rich play repertoire, and to create a civilised form of co-playing. In this form, the entertainment, meaningful leisure time and the dissemination of information are presented appropriately to the given age group, enjoyably embedded in activity. During the whole school year, on Friday afternoons, we offer a taste of the Dance of the Little Ones with the help of those who join us in this hour, our excellent session leaders and musicians.

From 4.45 pm to 5 pm     
Live storytelling 
Judit Mucza, the storyteller of the Living Tale Association  

From 5 pm to 5.30 pm     
Pipiske or Bukor? 
The vast array of the folk costumes of the Galga region with Gergő Tóth

From 6 pm to 7.30 pm     
Bence Biszak and Band
Folk music concert, sing-along and instrument show