Discover the handicraft treasures of the Carpathian Basin at the 37th Festival of Folk Arts!
800 workshop showrooms await at the biggest event for craftspeople in the Carpathian Basin, the Festival of Folk Arts. This August, visitors of the St. Stephen’s Day celebrations will be able to learn about a wide variety of trades once again.
As part of the St. Stephen’s Day celebrations, visiting the Festival of Folk Arts in the Buda Castle is again free of charge. The country’s largest folk art festival will be held in 2023 with the participation of around one thousand local and foreign craftspeople. The event will feature a wide range of stage productions, dance and music performances, well-known and celebrated artists, as well as notable newcomers. Czechia will be the guest of honour, so visitors will also have the chance to visit the workshops of Czech artisans. Czech artisans will introduce us to the crafts of weaving, indigo dyeing and resist block printing, picking-stick making, embroidery and wool processing, strengthening cultural links within the Carpathian Basin.
The main theme of the event is related to the commemorative year of the poet Petőfi, as the focus will be on the utensils of the folk peasant kitchen under the title “Into the kitchen I did turn...” recalling the first line of one of his famous poems. Traditional craftspeople will present to the public kitchen utensils that can be useful accessories in today’s modern kitchens, such as pottery, cooking and baking utensils, home and kitchen textiles, storage containers, and utensils made of vine, cornhusk, wicker.
The 37th Festival of Folk Arts has a special significance because Hungary joined UNESCO’s Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage exactly 20 years ago. In this spirit, special attention will be given to communities representing crafts that have been included in the UNESCO’s National and Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Among other things, they present the folk art of Kalocsa, as well as the Matyóföld and the Sárköz region, the busó festivities at Mohács, indigo dyeing and resist block printing, and the living tradition of Easter egg decoration, the Hövej lace, the Szeged slippers and ecclesiastical embroidery.
On 20 August, the master craftspeople celebrate St. Stephen’s Day with a festive procession of harvest wreaths and a ceremonial bread offering to revive traditions. The procession will start from the statue of András Hadik, then pass through the city’s landmarks and finally arrive at Szentháromság Square, where visitors will be able to participate in the ceremonial bread offering.
