The House of Traditions welcomes the new year with a soul-lifting stage gala inspired by Hungarian folk traditions: this year, their New Year's show is being shown for the tenth time at the Palace of Arts.
Miklós Both, the general director of the House of Traditions, reported on the jubilee show, the experiences of the past years and the novelties of the year 2025 in a lengthy interview given to the Magyar Nemzet.
– The jubilee New Year's program offers a special festive experience that reveals the richness and deep layers of meaning of Hungarian folk culture to the audience. This year's program was born in the spirit of the motto "Songs are sung on the lips of men and children" and builds on the traditions of the winter holidays, which have brought intimacy and communal strength to people's lives for centuries, said Miklós Both.
The show simultaneously looks back at traditions and bows to the work of our outstanding predecessors, such as János Seprődi, born 150 years ago, and Ferenc Farkas, born 120 years ago. The main role in the structure of the performance is given to the melodies and customs of the Christmas holiday circle. The chants and name day greetings of the small regions of Transylvania, as well as the special and rarely heard elements of the Zala regölés evoke the rich tradition of Hungarian folklore. Hungarian choral works are connected to this, which are performed by the Budapest Monteverdi Choir and create an elevated atmosphere.
The most beautiful dances of the folklore tradition - for example, the Kalotaszeg lads or the old Hungarian jumpers - highlight the timeless beauty of dance dynamism and traditional movements.
Prominent folk music and folk dance ensembles will perform at the event, such as the orchestra and dance ensemble of the Hungarian State Folk Ensemble, the Kalotaszeg Youth Society, and the Visa and Fordulj Kispej Lovam Dance Ensembles. The program will be enriched by renowned soloists such as Sára Tímár and her band, Ágnes Enyedi and the Kobzos Ensemble. The orchestras and dance ensembles are accompanied by masters of Hungarian folk instruments, such as Attila Mihó (violin), Fekete Antal Puma (viola) and Balázs Istvánfi (bagpipe). The program was edited by Péter Árendás, directed by Gábor Mihályi, and the visual praises the work of Zsuzsa Molnár.
Miklós Both took over the management of the House of Traditions in 2021, and in the past three years he has made many significant changes.
New digital platforms and educational tools were created with the aim of bringing the traditions of folk art into the 21st century. make it available and relevant even in the 20th century. Within the framework of these projects, for example, a complex online database was created, which organizes various areas of Hungarian folk culture and makes it available to the general public and researchers.
"The results of the past three years show that the institution was able to successfully position itself in the Hungarian cultural space, while our programs were able to preserve the values of traditional culture and pass them on in modern forms," emphasized Miklós Both,
who also reported: one of the most important objectives of the Folk_ME program is to create an active dialogue between traditional musical cultures and to make these traditions accessible with the most modern educational methods.
"In practice, Folk_ME offers a complex digital platform in which participants can listen to individual voices, analyze sequences of movements, or learn about historical and cultural contexts.
The goal is for folk music not to appear merely as a fixed, past value, but to be part of the educational and cultural life of today in a living, learnable and applicable form" -
detailed the leader, adding: the program received a particularly high recognition because, during the presentation of traditional cultures, it emphasizes not only their preservation, but also their integration into contemporary communities. In addition, through international cooperation, the program contributes to the strengthening of understanding between different cultures, which is also of outstanding importance from the point of view of global cultural dialogue.
Regarding this year's plans, Miklós Both said: in 2025, in addition to the permanent dance halls, folk music concerts and dance performances that have become flagships, they will continue their informative series entitled Free University, but they will also launch a number of significant new projects. Together with the Hungarian State Folk Ensemble, they are planning two presentations, as well as embarking on a large-scale Chinese tour, which will now take place for the second time at the invitation of China.
In February, the Hungarian Folk Arts Museum opens its exhibition showing the relationship between fashion and folk art with more preparations than ever before, while their specialist groups organize new courses for those who want to learn, and youth programs for children throughout the Carpathian Basin.
"The operation of the House of Traditions Network will be renewed in 2025, with greater emphasis on networking. The development of digital databases continues in our collections. In addition, we are organizing an international day to which we welcome folk art specialists from all over Europe. So I encourage everyone to visit the programs of the House of Traditions in 2025 as well and let them be a source of relaxation, knowledge acquisition, and the formation of valuable relationships," Miklós Both concluded the conversation.
Cover photo: Miklós Both, Director General of the House of Traditions
Source: Magyar Nemzet/TZ