On Saturday, the Anna Ball in Balatonfüred will be held for the 199th time.
The first Anna Ball was held on July 26, 1825 in Balatonfüred, at the Horváth House, in the inn of János Horváth Fülöp Szentgyörgyi in honor of the host's daughter. On that evening, the young Anna Krisztina met her future husband, the hussar first lieutenant Ernő Kiss, who later became a martyr of the 1848-49 war of independence in Arad. Since 2003, every year since 2003, the Herend porcelain hussar statue depicting him has been handed over to a man who has done and continues to do a lot for the culture and intellectual life of Balatonfüred.
Anna balls were organized not only in Füred, but also in other spas, but there is no doubt that the Balatonfüred dance parties held on the Saturday closest to Anna's day were the most famous. In the 19th century, Füred balls were really liked by aristocrats, and the national self-consciousness of the participants was expressed in their dress, lace dolmans, and beaded parties.
In 1861, a prom queen was chosen for the first time, who has been awarded with a golden apple since 1862. The luster of amusements that once attracted famous personalities - Lujzá Blaha, Mór Jókai, Lajos Kossuth, István Széchenyi, Mihály Vörösmarty, Miklós Wesselényi - has faded a bit between the two world wars in many Balaton settlements (Balatonalmádi, Balatonföldvár, Csopak, Tihany, Siófok, Zamárdi). they held an Anna ball like the one in Füred, but not in Füred.
The renaissance of the event in Balatonfüred began in 1954, when the venue was the Balaton restaurant. After that, the balls were held every year, and out of respect for the predecessors, they are numbered as if they had never stopped. Since 1957, the renovated former Kúrszalon, today's Anna Grand Hotel, has hosted the ball, and since then the beauty of the Anna Ball has been chosen every year.
The traditional Balaton heart fishing is organized on the Friday before the ball. According to the legend, the girl's future partner - or at least her prom companion - will be the one whose name appears on the wooden heart they fished out of Lake Balaton. The custom is brought to life following Gyula Krúdy Balatoni heart fishing .
The ball procession starts on Saturday from the garden of the Vaszary villa, where the ladies participating in the ball hang the numbered porcelain hearts around their necks, which are made by the main sponsor of the ball, the Herendi Porcelánmanufaktúra Zrt. This year, the color of the porcelain hearts was inspired by the rose arbor of the Tagore Promenade. The opening dance of the ball is traditionally the ornamental palace, which is presented by the ballet artists of the Hungarian State Opera House. Since 1962, the melodies of the Anna ball waltz - Jenő Huszka's last composition - have also been played. Among the ladies, the ball audience votes for the fifteen most beautiful, and a professional jury selects the beauty of the Anna ball and two ladies-in-waiting. In addition to the Eris apple, the prom queen's prize is a Herend vase with a Victoria pattern, and her two ladies-in-waiting receive a Herend vase each with Rothschild and Apponyi decoration.
On the day of the prom, the previous year's prom queen traditionally drives through the city in a carriage, and on the Sunday morning following the prom, the most beautiful lady of the Anna prom and her attendants go for a carriage ride in a decorated carriage, accompanied by horse hussars.
As an accompanying program of the Anna ball, the Anna festival is organized for the general public, the programs of which include, among others, the premiere gala, Operafüred with the participation of the choir of the Hungarian State Opera House, and the night of serenades.
The city invited the 18-year-old girls from Balatonfüred to the Anna ball again this year.
MTI
Featured image:
The beauty of the 198th Anna Ball, 19-year-old Alíz Dévényi from Budapest (k), her first lady of the court, 18-year-old Laura Szilassy from Balatonfüred (j) and her second lady of the court, 17-year-old Anna Viktória Csenke from Békéscsaba (b) after the announcement of the results of the ball in the park of Anna Grand Hotel on July 30, 2023. MTI/Soldier Tibor
