Hungarian Conservative

St Ivan’s Night has always been considered magical by the Nordic and Slavic peoples, but it has special folk traditions linked to it in Hungary as well. Various practices are employed during this time, which are related to healing, purification, love, and fertility.

‘Hungarian folk art passes messages from spirit to spirit, and although it has various ramifications, ultimately its unity is unbreakable,’ the chief curator of the folk arts and crafts exhibition titled SoulShapes Mihály Vetró says.

Every year, storks make a long and perilous journey from their wintering grounds in Africa back to their breeding grounds in Central Europe and Asia, and in the Hungarian culture, their return in spring is always a cause for celebration.

Zsófia Mohos has managed to capture a part of Hungary where the culture and traditions are still kept, but are beginning to fade away. Her project ‘Görbeország’, for which she received the Audience Award of Highlights of Hungary, aims to eternalize the unique ways of the Palóc.

The four-day Hollókő Easter Festival includes folk programs, Palóc cuisine, bucket-dumping water fights, Kerekes Band and Parno Graszt concerts, as well as children’s programmes.

She came from the small Slovakian town of Somorja, then the ‘splendid statelessness’ took her far away. With her dreamfolk-style songs about the stories of our ancestors, Upper Hungarian singer Rebeka Méry wants to convey what she has brought from home.

On 30 September, Hungary celebrates its folk tale heritage. Folk stories teach Hungarian children about the importance of courage, love and honesty on the journey of life.

Mourning the death of Queen Elizabeth II, Hungary remembers her historic visit in 1993, when she expressed joy over the country joining the family of democratic Western nations after decades of state socialist rule. Over the years, not only Her Majesty, but other members of the royal family, and the new monarch, King Charles III in particular, developed a special relationship with Hungary.

The revival and reinstatement of tradition, its restoration if you like, is by no means self-contradictory, and constancy is a more important element of tradition than change.