OPENING - Folk music / folk dance

Participants are the folk dancers of the Kiscsőszi Élő Forrás Egyesület (Association), the Balatonalmádi Néptáncműhely (Folk Dance Workshop) and the Batsányi Táncegyüttes (Dance Ensemble) of Tapolca

Zagyva Band is the dominant band of the young generation of Hungarian musicians, founded in Tura in 2002. Its members are dedicated cultivators of Hungarian folk music. Their repertoire includes folk songs and dance music of the Hungarian and other nationalities of the Carpathian Basin, including Romanians, Slovaks and Gypsies.

In the past 10 years they have been the musical creators and accompanying musicians of more than 20 evening folk dance shows, and their discography includes 10 albums.

In 2014 they were awarded the Pest County Culture Award. Two members of the orchestra are Junior Príma Award winners in the category of public culture and folk arts (2017,2018). They are frequent guests of Hungarians abroad, and since 2015 they have been carrying out cultural missions in the North American Diaspora.

Participants are the Veszprém - Bakony Dance Ensemble, the Márkói Cserdülők and the Szentgáli Szűrös Dance Ensemble

Tükrös formed in 1986 with the purpose of playing traditional music of magyars within and outside of Hungary. Personal encounters, trips to Transylvania, experiencing folk tradition, still alive and well at the time, inspired the group of city boys with a classical music background to devote themselves to this heritage. Their models are the village bands of old, with their seasoned sync and tight play in service of dancers.

After a decade of playing together, they release their first album: Tükrös Ensemble: Hungarian Folk Music. It already displays a mature style and harmonious music making, along the unflinching love for the folk tradition. The band launches their own summer camp, first in Debrecen then in Simonpuszta, to pass over the experience of living music, songs and dances to hundreds. A growing number of domestic gigs are componded with invitations across the borders: Tükrös render the Hungarian musical heritage in Prague, Brno, Dortmund and Vienna.

The 2000s see overseas tours: Sidney, Melbourne, New York and Chicago are the band’s recurring destinations. Tükrös launch a summer camp for the Hungarian community in Australia: bringing the magic of folk music and atmosphere of Hungarian jamborees that didn’t fade away over thousands of miles.

Their second album Szatmári Népzene az 1900-as évekből – Hungarian Village Music from the 20th Century concentrates on North-Eastern Hungary and its famous bands, and sees the band’s soulful style crystallize. The next publication delves into the tradition of Táncház movement’s most iconic region: Mezőség – Our Transyvanian Heath, 2008. The album Music of Forests and Waters (2015) gathers music of Central Transylvania, as pristine as the creeks and rivers running through it. Spelling out the harmonious bond of village culture and nature, Tükrös make a statement through music on their final album to date.

Participants are Balatonfüred Folk Dance Ensemble, az Ajka-Padragkút Dance Ensemble and Gerence Traditionalist Folk Dance Group.

The band was formed in January 2017. It was Attila Halmos who came up with the idea to establish my own band. Practising to our first recording named ’Dúzs 2017’ was the first project of the band. About this period it can be said that we went against the current standards. We tried to approach music from different viewpoint. We have put the rawness, movement, strong dynamics and freedom of music to the fore – if we serve folkmusic as a gnawed bone we deceive the folkmusic itself -, we started on this road and we want to go this way, too. We want to exploit the depth of this miracle tapping ourselves as it is not ethical to copy the musicians’ moments and feelings one to one. (Máté Kalász)