Wednesday 29 June 2011

Photos about Partner town weekend in Hodmezovasarhely



Partner towns of Hodmezovasarhely from Europe
Although Hodmezovasarhely is a relatively small town it has numerous partner towns all over Europe. It was such a great event last weekend. Thank you for all participants for the wonderful time!
Baja, Bács-Kiskun
Vidin, Bulgaria
Arad, Romania
Baia Mare, Romania
Haarlemmermeer, Netherlands
Hechingen, Germany
Kelmė, Lithuania
Senta, Serbia
Sokobanja, Serbia
Solotvyno, Ukraine
Tamar, Israel
Vallauris, France
Zgierz, Poland

Some photos of the events


Click on the map of Europe and you will see all the partner towns of Hodmezovasarhely




Beautiful Polish folk dancers waiting for getting on the stage

Hungarian folk dancers behind the stage

Folk dancing is a very serious business

The Polish ensemble at the beginning of their performance

Singing makes you smile!

Pretty, young and preserving traditions

Our friends from Bulgaria with a lively performance in Kossuth square, Hodmezovasarhely

Girls still waiting in traditional costumes in Hodmezovasarhely

Men from the Bulgarian folk dance group in Hodmezovasarhely
See you next year!

Tuesday 21 June 2011

Weekend of sister towns in Hodmezovasarhely


This weekend there will be an interesting festival in Hodmezovasarhely called The Festival of Towns. Hodmezovasarhely  invited its sister towns to show their culture to one another and also to discuss different issues that all these towns have to face. The opening of the festival is on 24th June. In the morning there will be a conference about education in Hotel Ginkgo. It will be opened by Peter Koszo, deputy mayor of Hodmezovasarhely and there will be seven lectures on the topic. The actual opening ceremony is in the afternoon at two o clock by Janos Lazar, the mayor of Hodmezovasarhely in Kossuth square. At 2:30 p.m. there will be the first part of the folk dance gala. There will be dance groups from Arad, Bereck, Kelme, Nagybanya, Torda and Kankalin folk dance group from Hodmezovasarhely, of course. At 3:00 p.m. there will be another conference about renewable energies in Ginkgo Sas hotel. In the evening after 7 p.m. two groups are going to play in Kossuth square, first the Sheket group that uses traditional Hungarian music to create modern music and after that Group n Swing which is a swing and boogie woogie show group.
The next day, Saturday starts off with a conference about the future of Europe in the Town Hall at 10 a.m.  From 8 a.m. until 3 p.m. there will be a hair and beauty competition in Fekete Sas and after that at 5 p.m. Hajas Laszlo, a famous Hungarian hairdresser, is making a show there. In the morning at 10 a.m. children can see a puppet show in Kossuth square and after that they can make puppets in a workshop. At 11 a.m. people can see clowns balancing with very high stilts. At 3 p.m. there is the second part of the folk dance gala with groups from Hechingen, Vidin, Zgierz and Arendas folk group from Hodmezovasarhely. At the same time those who like sports can visit the swimming pool where you can support your favourite team from the sister towns at the International Junior Swimming Competition. In the evening the clowns return for a spectacular parade with fire jugglers. After that at 10 p.m. you can listen to Bajnokok reggelije concert – they play Hungarian and foreign pop, rock and underground music. On Sunday there are aerobic, hip-hop and zumba shows between 10a.m. and 12 a.m.
From Friday afternoon until Sunday noon there will be a fair where you can see and buy local craftsmen products from Hodmezovasarhely and the sister towns. Come to Hodmezovasarhely and have a great time with programmes from all over Europe!

Sheket Band

Monday 6 June 2011

LOSZ Festival - Hodmezovasarhely

One of the liveliest programmes in Hodmezovasarhely is the LOSZ festival in June. This year it is organised for the 10th-11th of June. It is the fifth time it has been organised.


The main idea of this event is to try to preserve Hungarian culture that is why there are folk dance groups, and folk groups singing authentic Hungarian folk songs. But on the other hand it is also a great opportunity for young artists to show their talent so there are also blues and rock concerts in the evening. In my opinion one of the best part of the festival will be the evening and I would like to recommend  two concerts. Makam   http://www.makam.hu/2/ is a well-know group both in Hungary and abroad. They play ethno music and modernity and tradition are mixed in their music. They try to preserve traditional Hungarian music  buta t the same time give it a modern twist. I think it is very unique and worth listening to. Vatafaka  http://www.vatafaka.hupont.hu/7/vatafaka is my personal favourite. To call them musicians is an exaggaration. There are six drummers in the group but instead of real drums they use industrial rubbish. It is kind of traditional as they say their music is the continuity of tribal  drumming. Apart from drums there is a doromb or jew’s harp. I would not say they give concerts these events are rather performances. If you are aware of the fact that the members are not completely sane you will have a great time. Especially because there will be plenty of beer and wine to drink!

MAKAM



VATAFAKA



Vatafaka -  Best drum performance from Hodmezovasarhely

Thursday 2 June 2011

Hodmezovasarhely Photos

You're not going to get a lot to read. I took some photos of Hodmezovasarhely in spring. Enjoy our slow city!


On the right side of the photo you can see Fekete Sas or Black eagle which used to be the only hotel in Hodmezovasarhely. Nowadays it is a restaurant where you can have excellent lunch and in the other part there is a cafe where, if the weather is good, you can sit outside. Lovely coffee and tiramisu! On the other side of the picture there is a brick building. It used to be a casino for soldiers but now concerts are organised here for young people.
The northern part of Kossuth square

The first few buildings in Zrinyi street are Fekete Sas and Ginkgo Hotel on the right. If you go further this street you can find the hospital on the left. You can go to the end of it and you will find a farm where you can go horseriding. Outside Hodmezovasarhely if you go further up you will get to the Tisza backwater and you can stroll on the embankment. Be careful, in the evenings there can be lots of mosquitos.
Zrinyi street

Ide Hotel Gimkgo in Hodmezovasarhely the only four-star hotel. As the hotel is not very big the staff is very friendly and it is right in the middle of Hodmezovasarhely. Very good coffee and tea in the bar.
Ginkgo Hotel 

This is the fountain which you cannot see only the wet patches on the ground. It is always full of little children getting soaking wet in the water.
In front of Ginkgo
That's how slow Hodmezovasarhely is! No-one around.
Still in Zrinyi street

In front of the Town Hall you can see a bell on the left. It used to be in the tower but there was a fire in 1970 and the bell had to be taken down. My brother-in-laws father was among the people who put the bell to this place.
Town Hall and the bell

Still in Kossuth square but in the southern part you can see Alfoldi Gallery. In the hot summer if you want to cool yourself down visit this gallery and enjoy the paintings of local painters and other works from the region.
Alfoldi Gallery in the background
Not so slow here. On the left you can see people riding bikes. There are bicycle lanes all over Hodmezovasarhely making it a safer place for  locals and tourists as well.
Rapcsak Andras street

He could bring some more money to Hodmezovasarhely :)
Mercury on the roof of the bank in Kossuth square

Mainly pedestrian area in the middle of Hodmezovasarhely. There are lovely butiques and small shops where you can spend your money.
Szekfu street

Nepkert is a park and a playgroup just a few steps away from the Town Hall and next to the swimming pool. Take a walk there and enjoy some fresh air in the heart of Hodmezovasarhely.
On the way to Nepkert

http://www.hodmezovasarhely-hotels.aranyangol.hu/index.html

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