The head of state will attend programs in Kolozs County, including the Hungarian Days in Cluj-Napoca, between August 17 and 19.Continue reading
More than 500 programs will be held at over 70 venues during the 16th Hungarian Days in Cluj-Napoca (Kolozsvár) between August 17 and 24, organizers announced at a press conference in Cluj-Napoca on Wednesday.
Balázs Gergely, chief organizer and president of the Kincses Kolozsvár Association, said that the motto of this year’s largest event for Hungarians in Transylvania, “We are here!”, can be interpreted from a community perspective, as Hungarians have a documented presence in the region dating back 1,100 years. “We have been here for 1,100 years (…), we were a community that built this city, and we still are today,” said the chief organizer.
Program director Lilla Szabó said that 525 events have been planned for this year’s cultural festival. These include 60 concerts: in addition to pop, rock, jazz, and blues, the audience can also look forward to 12 classical music concerts.
This year there will also be a mini theater season, during which the Hungarian State Theater of Cluj-Napoca will present three performances and three guest performances. Numerous literary programs and twenty exhibitions await visitors, ten of which will open during the Hungarian Days.
The exhibition entitled Barabás Miklós Céh 1930-2025 is unusual in that it presents the activities of the organization that brings together Transylvanian visual artists from its founding to the present day.
The curators of the exhibition opening on Sunday at the Museum of Fine Arts are art historians Ágota Portik Blénessy and Zoltán Vécsi Nagy. Ágota Portik Blénessy said that the uniqueness of the exhibition lies in the fact that it covers the entire activity of the guild, from its founders to contemporary artists.
More than 300 artists will be featured with 450 works on display in a thousand square meters, accompanied by a catalog.
On Sunday at 10 a.m., a thanksgiving service will be held in the renovated Reformed Church. At 8 p.m., there will be a concert in memory of Tamás Cseh in the courtyard of the Bánffy Palace with the Ad Libitum Association.
The opening gala of the 16th Hungarian Days in Cluj-Napoca will be held on Monday, August 18, at 7 p.m. at the Hungarian Theater, where the Udvarhely Folk Dance Workshop and the Háromszék Dance Theater will perform Ritka magyar (Rare Hungarian), a production dedicated to the memory of ethnographer Zoltán Kallós. The keynote speaker at the event will be Tamás Sulyok, President of the Republic.
Lilla Szabó highlighted the quiz organized in connection with the 440th anniversary of the Házsongárdi Cemetery, the themed city tours, the film days, during which 44 Hungarian films will be screened, and the 27th St. Stephen’s Day Folk Dance Festival, the gala of which will be held on Tuesday, August 19, in the Main Square.
Among the new features, he mentioned the stage on Farkas Street, the live music box next to the Folkudvar, the medieval fair with jousting tournaments, and the folk costume fitting room showcasing traditional costumes from the Mezőség and Kalotaszeg regions.
As a new venue, art history lectures will be held in the Opera Studio, and a KMN café will be open in the evening at 4 Szentegyház Street. On Saturday, August 23, the 7th Donaton cross-country race and the traditional joyful cooking will take place.
The event series will be organized by 145 organizers and 120 volunteers. More than 140 artisans will be present at the Farkas Street Fair, and 18 museums from Transylvania and Hungary will offer interactive activities on the Museum Promenade.
Via MTI; Featured photo: MTI/Kiss Gábor