Gastronomy Festivals

International plum jam and preserves cooking competition-Szatmárcseke

At the end of August, the festival  awaits guests and participating settlements for a joint cooking of fruit preserves and jams, where, besides the „end product” the good atmosphere and celebration is at least as important. The site of the festival is the park located by the Sports court, where the plum jam cooking tents are set up under the shadows of pine trees, or the jam pot fireplaces, for two days. The event awaits visitors with a colorful variety of programs (singing, fireplace, fireworks, bacon frying competition, orchestra).

Lamb and  traditional Slambuc-Potato Soup cooking festival - Hajdúszoboszló

Lamb and traditional Slambuc-Potato Soup cooking festival, as the region’s largest gastronomic event is organized annually in September in Hajdúszoboszló. The event is not a competition, it has no jury to compare the contents of the bogrács. This day the pleasure and ceremony of cooking together, and the wide scale of gastronomy is emphasized. The festival was organized with the purpose to advertise the unique local recipes of Hungarian gastronomy, and introduce the culture of open air cooking.

The tastes of Sárrét Festival – Nagyrábé

The Tastes of Sárrét Festival is organized at the beginnings of April. The all day event’s colorful programs include, among others, a cooking competition, Szent György Day Driving of the Animals, traditional and modern music programs, concerts and children’s performances.

Country Gulyás Competition and Shepherds Meeting - Hortobágy

The Country Gulyás Competition and Shepherds Meeting at Hortobágy is organized on Saturday before Pentecost. The traditional Hungarian Shepherd customs have been preserved by Shepherds keeping the Hungarian gray cattle. The Gulyás competition’s primary goal is to make sure that the masters of this ancient profession can compete in knowledge, that is organically related to everyday life. The outstanding programs include: folk dance groups, shepherd dance competition, shepherd ball.

 

Village Inns Country Cooking and Baking Festival – Orfű

 

The Village Inn’s Country Cooking and Baking Competition is held in the first of October, at the Orfű Equestrian court. Besides the cooking-baking competition, the programs also include: exhibitions, wine tasting, children’s games, equiestrian shows and theater programs.

 

 

International Cinke Cooking Festival – Szatmárcseke

Szatmárcseke hosts the International Cinke Cooking Festival at the beginning of february, where a wide scale variety of traditional food, pastries, baked kalács long forgotten, can be again discovered and tasted.  During the competition, high quality folklore programs, gipsy music, adult and children’s folk dance groups keep up entertainment. During the whole day, eating and drinking is followed by dance in the framework of „Puliszka” ball. If you wake up after the ball, on time, you can participate in a village pork feast with whiskey, boiled wine, pork sausage and liver sausage tasting. 

Kanizsa Wine and Dödölle Festival – Nagykanizsa

In September, the Kanizsa Wine and Dödölle Festival is organized in Nagykanizsa, which begins with the Dödölle festive procession where folk dancers, Mohács busós, wings, majorettes, horse carts. At the festival, visitors can take pleasure in the cooking competition of dödölle and other regional dishes. We tasted the wines of Zala and other wine regions, and competing for the title of Kanizsa Wines Mastersinger, interested volunteers can compete at the singing competition. The visitors can also enjoy the folk art fair, children’s folk games and activities and wellness tent. 

Hungarian tastes –Hungarian Colors Gastronomy and Fruit Festival-Kozárd

At the beginning of September, a Fruit Festival is organized in Kozárd, where the following goods can be found:  apple fair, Kozárd fruit preserves and jam, Bokri goat cheese, mangalica spiced sausage, smoked bacon, Bükk region „Kozárd hunting wines”, Kozárd fruit whiskey, local pastries, loveletter, mangalica and forest game pörkölt meet and roasts, and other delicious dishes. Dance performers, folk songs, music and dance programs abound. Local products are introduced and offered, tasted, sold, tourist offers, artisan products are available at the fairs, folk group performances, palóc folk dress shows.

Pumpkin Festival – Nagydobos

The Nagydobos residents celebrate the local pumpkin festival during a September weekend. On the occassion, the settlement organizes the competition of "Most authentic Nagydobosi pumpkin", in which only local producers can participate. The guests are invited to participate in related competitions. Farmers from any region of the country can enter their produce at the competition of „Largest pumpkin of the country”. The classical programs, applied for pumpkins, sports competitions, theater programs are complemented with programs and processions of the neighboring settlements, which introduce local customs.

Strudel Baking Festival – Mesztegnyő

The dreams of strudel lovers come true with the Mesztegnyő Strudel Festival organized in July, since all programs revolve around the tasty, sweet delicacy. While the participants of the competition bustle with the preparation of the perfect, most delicious dough and fillings, the visitors can gain insight into the small secrets of dough-making, mixing and rolling, and, if they are persistent enough, and feel like it, they can subscribe to a fast „strudel training”, where they can try the recently learnt profession. The visitors who tried too many apple, curd, cherry, cabbage, poppyseed, walnut strudels, and additional flavors, and struggle with bad scruples afterwards, can enter sports competitions to lose calories, or can make a quick trip to the pictureque, intact environment of the small village by the lake Balaton.

Csaba Spiced Sausage Festival

The Csaba Spiced Sausage Festival is traditionally organized at the second half of October, at Békéscsaba. The festival’s complementary event include the Champion’s League, spiced sausage making competition and the exhibition of Food Industry and Agriculture. The event is complemented with wine feast, agricultural, food industry and turistical exhibitions with rich cultural offer. At three different sites, introduction of the greatest treasures of folk culture takes place, with playful children’s games, music and entertainment performances. At night, acknowledged groups entertain the participant audience.

Cheese and Curd Festival – Gyomaendrőd

The two-day festival is organized in May, with the participation of the producers, wineries of the traditional Hungarian historical wineyards, and the region’s honey producers. The gastronomic events’ goals, beyond the professional goals, is to introduce the urban turistical sites of Gyomaendrőd, to support the development of agrotourism and village culture. The entertainment of the visitors is provided by well known performers, orchestras and dance groups.The festival’s complementary event is the Suttyomba Folk Music festival.

Potato Festival– Szécsény

The first day of the October event includes professional programs primarily for the region’s producers, on the second day, entertaining programs about and with potatos, welcome visitors, Guests and visitors are welcome to watch the Szécsényi Potato Order’s public assembly, and participate at the evening ball, and the Gül-mama, Gül-papa and Gül-baba Price ceremony.

Onion Festival – Makó

At the three-days series of events organized in the middle of September, visitors can enjoy everything pleasant to the lovers of artisanry and good food: fair of folk artists and artisans, peasant cooks, Transylvanian honey-milkloaf  bakers. One of the outstanding events of the series is the competition of district governor’s mastery of cooking in the Makó and surrounding region.  At the festival’s sites, colorful cultural programs and professional forums of agriculture alternate. In addition, the event is an outstanding occassion for the participants to get to know the turistical and gastronomic treasures of the Maros river bank.

Nagyszakácsi – Royal Bakers Competition

The Royal Cooks’ Cooking Competition takes place annually on the first weekend of August. The competing groups can prepare their meals from XIV-XV. cenrtuy ingredients, spices and historical cooking methods. The baroque gastronomy culture also appears in the call for competition. We emphasize medieval atmosphere, but also include programs evoking the Renaissance, with Renaissance musicians, dancers, flag bearers, medieval knights tents, medieval fighters, giants on tilts, fire jogglers, horse archers and horse fighters.