Regional Show: Balatonfüred - Anna Festival
Tapolca, Keszthely, Siófok, Várpalota, Zirc, Fonyód and Balatonfüred - the cultural centres of our region have distinct characters and a rich cultural history. The Regional Show will show you what they have to offer.
Time Travel in the World of Anna Balls
In July, Anna Ball, one of the country's most important society events, will be held for the 198th time in the Reform Era district of Balatonfüred.
The organisers' concept of the event, which has been declared a Hungaricum this year, offers an insight into the history of the ball, which is steeped in tradition and legend, by inviting guests to travel back in time until the bicentenary comes round in 2025. Over the next three years, participants will be able to go back in time to the beginning, to 1825, when the first Anna Ball was held in Balatonfüred in Horváth House in honour of Krisztina Szentgyörgyi-Horváth, who met her future husband, Lieutenant General Ernő Kiss at the ball as a débutante.
For almost two hundred years now, the ball has been the epitome of romance and elegance. This will be accompanied by three years of time travel. In June, Anna Festival, which precedes the ball, will evoke the age of dance festivals. The 1950s to ’70s will be brought to life in style, costume and live performances in the Reform Era district of Füred.
The Opera Festival in Gyógy Square, organised in collaboration with the Hungarian State Opera, is an integral part of the ball. This is where audiences can again hear a selection of the finest songs from the operatic repertoire in the picturesque setting of the Balaton lakeshore.
The ball has been committed to preserving tradition and values since its beginnings; this is what made it stand out in the Reform Era and still makes it unique today. UNESCO World Heritage listed Herend porcelain, also a Hungaricum, folk string bands and Lipizzaner horses add to the wealth of heritage treasures on display during the event.
This year’s major innovation is the revival of the tradition of café gypsy music. As a novel initiative by Heritage House, a featured partner of the ball, the Prímás (Gypsy Band Leader) Competition will feature live music in the district's cafés during the week of the festival, with the best bands selected by audience votes. As a prelude to the ball, the bands will give a nighttime concert for the débutantes of Füred as part of the Night of Serenades programme.
The festival also revives the tradition of heart fishing as preserved in the works of Vörösmarty and Krúdy.
The Anna Ball and Anna Festival in Balatonfüred are not only society events but also a series of cultural, traditionalist and community programmes that represent the cultural and spiritual concept of the Veszprém-Balaton 2023 European Capital of Culture programme as a whole: traditions, values, development and modernity.
All festival programmes are free of charge except Heart Fishing (3000 HUF/person) and Reform Era Walks (2300 HUF/person)
Ticket info:
www.jegy.hu for Heart Fishing and [email protected] for Reform Era walks
