11 September 2024 / Edit Szabó
After the successful Valley of Arts you launched your second all-arts festival in Tállya, a lovely village in the Tokaj wine region. Why did you choose this location?
The mission of the Arts for Rural Development Foundation, which I established in 2014, is to help unknown but very precious towns and villages come into focus through the power of culture. When economist Péter Márton, who had already opened a winery and a wine hotel here, invited me to Tállya in 2016, I immediately sensed the potential of the village. Every corner of Tállya is steeped in history: Lajos Kossuth was baptized here in 1802 and the famous violinist János Lavotta composed his works here; moreover, it is a wine region with unique features, and all this inspired us to create a festival here as well, which was named Kerekdomb after one of the local vineyards.
Natália Oszkó-Jakab
Is there anything special about this year's festival?
Every year is special for us, because this festival is an all-art treasure: this year it is already being held for the ninth time, we are organizing 20 stages and 150 programmes, and in addition to cultural content, visitors can also visit 20 local wineries and a pálinka distillery with a wine passport. The starting point for the creation of Kerekdomb was that Tállya is part of the Tokaj wine region, so it was clear to us that the wineries located here, the winemakers working here and the wines produced by them fit organically into the programme. So if you ask me about the specialty of the festival, I will say that wine provides the most important background.
Concerts of popular performers always attract a big audience. Who will take to the main stage of the Vintner House this year?
Aurevoir and Carson Coma will play on Friday night, Anna and the Barbies, Punnany Massif and Magna Cum Laude will play on Saturday, and we are preparing a theatrical production for Sunday. Viewers can see Goldoni's Mirandolina starring Andrea Szulák, Armand Kautzky and János Szemenyei. Speaking of theatre: on Friday, two wonderful actresses, Lia Pokorny and Dóra Szinetár, will perform their stand-alone evening in the Community House, and on Saturday a stage version of András Cserna Szabó's The Time of Tripe will be staged by Béla Ficzere.
Many people always come to such festivals with families and children. Do you have programmes for the children as well?
As a mom, I'm always looking for opportunities that offer relaxation for people of different ages. That is why we have adapted the festival programme accordingly. There will be several Ringató concerts in Mailloth Castle, János Bárth will sing children's songs, and on Sunday visitors can watch a musical literary programme by Dániel Varró and György Molnár. There will be a Furmányos Toy Court at the Somszög Estate and an interactive theatre at the Vincellér House, in which the performers will rely heavily on audience participation. It is very good that the festival is structured like this, because an older child can stay with acquaintances at a performance for his or her age without any problems, while their parents go to an adult programme. But at Szűcs Winery, for example, there will be handicraft activities for children, and while they spend their time creatively, parents can taste a glass or two of local wine.
Speaking of wine: what is a wine passport?
During the festival, every winemaker in the village personally welcomes guests to their own cellar, and there is nothing better than hearing first-hand stories to enrich your wine tasting. They explain how they started and what special people they have hosted, while in several cellars, there will be homemade dishes – stuffed cabbage, game stew, bean goulash, kenyérlángos (kind of Hungarian focaccia) and strudel – on offer, and selected wines indicated in the wine passport will be poured. As there are wines from twenty wineries on offer to visitors, it is worth planning to not do them all in one day, and it is important to know that some wineries are organizing vineyard tours too, which are also great experiences. Once home, you will be able to flip through your wine passport and admire the colourful stamps you got at the wineries. We hope that this will help you recall the atmosphere of the cellars and the flavours of the wines, and that you will come back again.
In recent years, we have found that there is a very strong literary thread in Kerekdomb. What contemporary writers and poets can we meet during the three days?
Zsófi Hard, Krisztián Greco, László Kollár-Klemencz and János Háy will be joining us, but you can also see a special performance that offers an insight into the life and tragic fate of writer Sándor Tar through his writings. Erika Náray and Krisztián Nyáry's musical literary evening will be staged under the name Envelopeable Love, but we will also be joined by Miklós H Vecsei and Gergely Balla (Platon Karataev), who will perform ‘Tell me, Atika!’ based on poems by Attila József. In addition to literature, we are also preparing high-quality fine arts and classical music programmes, it is worth looking carefully at the programme guide, which, of course, can also be found on the website in electronic form.
What programmes can lovers of hiking and movement expect?
Those who like cycling can join our e-bike tours, but we are also organizing historical walks and canoe trips on the Bodrog for water lovers. A visit to the Colas North Quarry promises to be a real highlight, where a presentation on petrology will give you a better understanding of the special world of the Tokaj wine region. When I go to a wine tasting or a vineyard tour, I always hear the magic word "terroir", but I only understood its true meaning when I saw these soil-forming rocks with my own eyes. I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone who wants to get closer to the essence of Tokaj wines.
According to preliminary estimates, how many visitors are expected to attend the festival?
Just like last year, we expect about 5-6,000 visitors. I am not a fan of mass events, I much prefer to have enough space to accommodate visitors comfortably, and this number of people is nicely distributed throughout the village. Thus, there is an opportunity for real connections, real conversations with artists and winemakers, but valuable dialogue can also develop between visitors. Special measures have also been taken to ensure that sound from venues close to each other does not interfere with neighbouring productions, so that the audience can enjoy the programme they are currently attending undisturbed.
I know from experience that during festivals it is not easy to find accommodation in the village or even in the surrounding area. What options are there for those who wish to spend the night in Tállya?
Tállya is probably full everywhere by now, but fortunately the area offers a lot of good quality accommodation. The festival bus timetables can be found on the kerekdombfeszt.hu website. The buses connect Golop, Monok, Legybénye, Szerencs, Rátka and Abaújszántó with Tállya, run until late at night and can be used free of charge with a festival wristband, so anyone can easily get to the events. Those who like nomadic conditions can camp in Tállya, at the campsite next to Mailloth Castle. The weather is expected to be suitable for this, as we are expecting 25-30°C. There is unlikely to be rain, but we have organized all the programmes so that we can hold them even if it rains, or you may need an umbrella at the Vincellér House stage.
At which event will it definitely be possible to meet you?
I would love to be everywhere, but of course that's impossible. Although not included in the programme guide, we have one of Poland's most impressive bands, Cheap Tobacco, coming to us, and I am very curious about them. They are playing at Szűcs Winery at 4.30 pm on 13 September. I hope I will be able to watch Zoli Beck's performance on Sunday, but what is certain is that our entire crew will be present at the Headless Horseman concert, because one of our colleagues will also take to the stage. I am sure that everyone will find something to suit their taste in this wide range of activities and we look forward to welcoming the audience to Tállya between 13-15 September!
