Sun 9/8 @ 10AM-8PM
Scouting is a big thing in the Hungarian community, an organization that preserves, teaches, celebrates and passes along Hungarian culture. And each year the Hungarian community gathers in German Central Park in Parma to celebrate with the American Hungarian Friends of Scouting, this year for the 77th annual Hungarian Festival marking 75 years of Hungarian scouting in Northeast Ohio.
The day opens with a flag-raising ceremony at 10:30am, followed by Hungarian-language church services, both Catholic and Protestant. Then at noon, the kitchens open for one of the major attractions at all ethnic festivals: the food! Enjoy Hungarian Sausages, grilled pork steak, stuffed cabbage rolls, dumplings, chimney cakes, jam-filled crepes, tortes, strudel and much, much more. Coffee, beers and wine will be available to wash it down.
Don’t overeat though (food can be purchased to take home too) because there live musical entertainment that will get you itching to move, provided by New Jersey’s Fészer Band and northeast Ohio’s Walt Mahovlich and Harmonia, plus folk dancing in authentic costumes by the Hungarian Scout Folk Ensemble, and folk dancing lessons so you can learn their moves. At the end of the day from 6-8pm there’s an open dance party to Hungarian folk music so you can practice and polish those moves.
The festival also includes special kids’ activities, a live wild animal show at 2:30pm, book fair, and a vendor area with folk arts and crafts, souvenirs and novelty items available for sale. Admission is $12 which benefit the Hungarian boy and girl scouts in Northeast Ohio.