Every year on this day, the event is reenacted all over the city and there are traditional foods, dances, and celebrations everywhere. Everyone sports a tri-colored ribbon with the colors of the Hungarian flag. Booths are set up to demonstrate traditional handicrafts. Musicians and dancers perform in the streets and many of the museums are open free to the public. Services shut down for the day, but the cafes overflow!
Ben and I went up to Castle Hill for the day. I tried some of the dried fruit for sale (I got dried strawberries- they were like gummy candies!) and was tempted to purchase a mustache from an enterprising and inventive young man. I settled for a picture! The names under the mustaches are those of national heroes, so I can only assume they are stylized to resemble those after whom they are named.
You can see a woman working on hand-made lace as well as some of the breathtaking traditional embroidery. We visited the dance theatre and were treated to some modern dance in the style of Martha Graham. If you are familiar with the movie White Christmas, this is the style of dance that the number "Choreography" is based on. My personal favorite were the folk dancers in the street. We ended the day with a late lunch in a cafe. We had seats by the window and I enjoyed watching fathers dancing with their children and an endless parade of dogs and children, and sometimes dogs WITH children. And by that I mean that the dogs seemed to be in more control than the children walking them ;)
People watching was by far my favorite event of the day. The whole atmosphere of the city changed! People smiled and relaxed. It was beautiful!
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