The Hungarian National Rural Network held an event entitled of Rural Hungary Day – A Carnival Season Merriment on 8 February at the Millenáris cultural centre in Budapest, at which lively rural Hungary and our living traditions were showcased for old and young alike.
This is the second time in six months that the Hungarian National Rural Network has organised Rural Hungary Day to a full house at the Millenáris in the interests of bringing the flavours, customs and traditions of rural Hungary closer to the citizen of the capital, reinforcing the relationship between city and country, and to present the Ministry of Rural Development and its background institutions.
The second priority objective of the event is to provide the citizens of Budapest with details regarding the development projects realised with the help of the Ignác Darányi Plan's New Hungary Rural Development Programme. A total of some 1400 billion forints was available to Hungary during the 2007-2013 programming period for agricultural and rural development purposes, which in addition to funding provided by the projects themselves made possible investment projects worth a total of HUF 3000 billion (some 9.7bn euros).
In addition to conjuring up images of rural Hungary, portraying carnival season folk traditions was also one of the main goals of Saturday's event. At Rural Hungary Day – A Carnival Season Merriment, those attending had the opportunity to learn more about the Őrség region's log-pulling and Busójárás, masquerading traditions, while children could try their hand at basket-weaving, candle-making and doughnut decorating. Lovers of gastronomy were not disappointed thanks to the Vidék Mustra rural produce fair, and were given an opportunity to find out just what makes Karcag mutton stew, which was recently declared a Hungaricum, so special.
In his opening speech, Minister of State for Rural Development Zsolt V: Németh stressed that traditions had been preserved and still remain a part of local life for many. Carnival time is a a good opportunity for farmers and other people who live off the land to enjoy a little celebration and wait for the spring with a little joy. "Our goal here at the Millenáris was not to set up an open-air museum, but to present living rural Hungary and our living traditions, and how these may be passed on to future generations", the Minister of State said.
(Press Office of the Ministry of Rural Development)
