The village of Taliándörögd will again host the festival's highest profile music and theatre productions among the Kastrom ruins, the village of Vigántpetend will host church concerts and exhibitions as well as events in its beer tent. Rock groups at the festival will perform in Monostorapáti and Öcs will be the centre of the world music programme. Pula will be the home of a theatre tent, comics of the Duma Theatre will perform each evening in Nagyvázsony, and Renaissance games will take place around the Kinizsi castle.
For the first time this year, the title Lady of the Valley of Arts will be awarded by the festival organiers, said chief organiser István Márta. The first title will go to Hungarian folk and world music diva Bea Palya, who will appear regularly over the ten-day festival, he added.
Palya will live ?the life of the valley?, even leading some children's activities. Muzsikás, Hungary's best known folk group, will also come to the festival over several days and percussion ensemble Amadinda will return too.
Amadinda head Zoltán Rácz will celebrate his 50 th birthday at the festival, joined by many friends, among them Gábor Presser and János Karácsony, two former members of LGT, one of Hungary's most popular pop acts from the 70's and 80's.
The Békés County Jókai Theatre will set up a 500 person-capacity tent on the edge of Pula where a performance of Hobo?s Circus Hungaricus as well as productions by the New Theatre will take place. The tent will also host a valley gala on July 31. The proceeds from the event will go to the victims of recent flooding in northeast Hungary.
Among the other performers at the theatre tent will be the Benkó Dixieland Band with a surprise guest.
The actor Balázs Galkó will travel from vilallge to village during the festival with a giant book in which visitors can record their impressions of the Valley of Arts.
Budapest?s Museum of Ethnography will help organise exhibitions in three of the Valley of Arts villages.
The festival director decline to talk about money, but said he could not complain and remained an optimist. The Valley of Arts has won just one tender for a HUF 23 million grant from the National Cultural Fund, but it also counts on money from sponsors, he added. The local government of the county of Vesprém has made no contribtion to the festival, he noted.
Day tickets for the festival can be purchased for HUF 2,000. Three-day and weekend tickets can be had for HUF 5,000. A ten-day ticket costs HUF 18,000.
Source: Hungarian News Agency (MTI) / Photo: MTI
