Subscribe to our social channels to get the latest news about Hungary!
The best places to get to know Hungarian Folk Art
Change language:
Folk art is essential and unique in every culture, but we naturally have a soft spot for Hungarian folk art. Just think about the mesmerizingly colourful Matyó embroidery or the intricate laces. As most forms of folk art are considered Hungarikums today, you can see them at numerous places. The Culture Trip has collected the best ones, including museums and a real-life introduction to the origins of these beauties.
Budapest Festival of Folk Arts
The Budapest Festival of Folk Arts is organised every year at the Buda Castle, usually around August 20, the day commemorating the Hungarian State Founding. This year it takes place between the 17th and 20th of August. At this festival, you can get to know Hungarian folk art in the form of a market, where artists display their work and set up workshops to teach those interested. The most popular activity at these tents is the egg painting, which is a well-established Hungarian Easter tradition.
Hungarian folk dance and music are also represented at the festival, make sure to check these performances out too.
If you have not had a chance to get to know Hungarian cuisine by this time, you can try the best Hungarian food and also the pálinka.
https://www.facebook.com/mestersegekunnepe/photos/a.208823612494576.50006.203681063008831/1516160368427554/?type=3&theater
The Museum of Applied Hungarian Folk Art
It is worth checking out this museum’s collection from time to time again, as their collection is constantly refreshed with new creations representing the latest methods and trends in folk art. What will you find here? The widely known and peculiar Busójárás masks for instance, so if you miss the carnival in February, you will still get the hang of this Hungarian tradition. In addition, the museum’s collection includes different types of embroideries, laces and pottery, along with the characteristic Hungarian furniture.
The Museum of Ethnography
If you are already in the vicinity, visiting the Hungarian Parliament, then why not check out the Museum of Ethnography too? Though the museum is closed for renovation until 2020, you can still visit their archives and library.
Once it is open again, you can explore temporary or permanent exhibitions, like
the “Traditional Culture of the Hungarians”, which will guide you through the life of Hungarian peasantry and the trends in folk art from the late 1700s until the First World War.
