The United States will be the guest of honour at the 40th Festival of Folk Arts in Budapest as the event joins celebrations marking the 250th anniversary of American independence. The four-day festival will take place at Buda Castle from 20 to 23 August.
Eighteen American folk artists and craftspeople will travel to Hungary for the anniversary edition, presenting traditions ranging from pottery and woodcarving to printing and embroidery. Organizers said the artists will hold demonstrations and workshops showing how traditional techniques continue to develop through contemporary craftsmanship.
Among the centrepieces will be America’s Tapestry, a community embroidery project presented by textile artists Stefan Romero and Karen Wallach. The wider project consists of 13 hand-embroidered tapestries representing the original American colonies and was created by volunteers aged between five and 96 across the United States.
In Budapest, Romero and Wallach will create a new collaborative tapestry inspired by Benjamin Franklin’s famous rattlesnake motif, historically associated with unity among the American colonies. Festivalgoers will be invited to contribute by signing or drawing on strips of fabric, writing messages, adding Hungarian embroidery, or helping sew parts of the work together.
The American programme will also feature Ohio potters Mark and Joyce Nafziger, who will demonstrate different stages of pottery production throughout the festival, while Knoxville-based woodcarver Douglas Molinas Lawrence will show visitors how he creates hand-carved wooden vases. Ceramic artist Kate Schroeder will demonstrate her hand-built ‘Shelfie Mug’ designs.
Printmaker and bookbinder Thayer NG Bray will introduce visitors to bookbinding, relief printing, and zine-making, combining the three techniques into a jointly produced hand-printed book by the festival’s final day.
Native American traditions will be represented by TwoShields Productions, a multidisciplinary group presenting Northern Ute and Laguna Pueblo crafts, music, and cultural performances. The musical programme will meanwhile include San Francisco Bay Area bluegrass band Hot Buttered Rum, whose sound combines bluegrass with folk, jazz, and soul influences.
The festival’s 2026 edition will bring together around 800 craftspeople, with folk pottery serving as the principal thematic focus.
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