Koloszvár Hungarian Days was held for the first time on the initiative of the Transylvanian Hungarian National Council and the local chapter of political party RMDSZ. It was timed to coincide with August 19, when, 694 years earlier, Róbert Károly returned Kolozsvár?s status as a city, and with August 20, the day of Saint István, the king who established the state of Hungary.
Cultural life in Kolozsvár is sparse at the end of summer, thus it was surprising to see the large number of people drawn to the festival. The performance Böjttől böjtig by the Háromszék dance troupe on Wednesday, the first day of the event, packed the State Hungarian Theatre of Kolozsvár. The piece showed the continuity of life, reflecting the passing of time in folk customs and celebrations. The appreciative audience called the troupe for four encores after the performance.
After the show, some of the musicians from the troupe gave an impromptu performance in the Spritz café. When everybody had danced themselves out and started thinking about going home, who should enter the venue but Feró Nagy, the frontman of Beatrice, there to share the company of the writers, poets actors and curious fans.
Later during the festival, Feró took the stage with his band Knock Out.
The fine arts were in the spotlight on the second day of the festival. Especially interesting was the exhibition Kolozsvár in Pictures, which featured drawings of some of the city?s most famous buildings by art students. A show of portraits of Transylvanian Hungarian writers by the photographer Zágon Szentes opend in the Bulgakov café early in the evening. Among the faces in the show were György Faludy, János Dénes Orbán and state secretary for culture at the National Resources Ministry Géza Szőcs.
A film festival took place within the framework of the Kolozsvár Hungarian Days. Documentaries and feature films that involved the city were screened.
On the 20th, the Folk Dance Conference, an encampment of ancient Hungarian tent-dwellers, an archery demonstration and a performance of the rock opera István the King were popular with festival-goers.
Hot Jazz Bank performed hits from the 1920s and 30s in the evening.
Children at the festival were treated to puppet shows and story-telling.
