"Luca, Luca, kitty-kotty, tojjanak a tiktyok,” (Luca, Luca, click-cluck, your hens should lay their eggs) - in Hungary, if you prepare for the busy period at the end of the old year with this nursery rhyme, you should come to no harm in the new one. But let's not get ahead of ourselves: the last two weeks of the year are the perfect time to digest all that has happened, take stock and make plans for the future. The period is also full of music, dance and fairytales, not to mention countless special and rare folk traditions that we would do well to remember. To ensure that we really do not forget, we can rely on Zoltán "Batyu” Farkas, the director-host and a great authority on Hungarian folk culture.
On 13 December, we remember the Sicilian martyr Saint Lucy (‘Luca', in Hungarian). Every Hungarian has heard of Luca's chair, which reveals any witches in the vicinity right up until the midnight mass prior to Christmas Day. Perhaps not so many, however, are aware that in the island of Žitný Ostrov (Csallóköz), for example, men would dress up as Luca, place whitewash on their hands and drive away troubles from their families. The ‘Lent of Christmas', 24 December, is the day of Adam a...nd Eve, when the family focuses on the coming year. On the following day, we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, and in many Hungarian locations, traditions centred on the nativity play are brought to life through period events. On 28 December we remember the victims of King Herod's infanticide with the Holy Innocents' Day, with various cathartic customs - such as "vesszőzés” a birching ritual that is also known as "aprószentekelés” (celebrating the innocents) - that help ensure our future well-being. Not to mention the traditional singing practices during advent of that feature poetic greetings and chanting. Zoltán "Batyu” Farkas will have some wonderful assistants to bring the rich and diverse festive season to life on the stage: in addition to the folk singer and storyteller Krisztina Benedek, he will also be joined by the three groups and the band of the Kistarcsa Pannonia Dance Ensemble.
Age: 10-14 year
Presented by: Müpa Budapest
Parking information
We wish to inform you that in the event that Müpa Budapest's underground garage and outdoor car park are operating at full capacity, it is advisable to plan for increased waiting times when you arrive. In order to avoid this, we recommend that you depart for our events in time, so that you you can find the ideal parking spot quickly and smoothly and arrive for our performance in comfort. The Müpa Budapest underground garage gates will be operated by an automatic number plate recognition system. Parking is free of charge for visitors with tickets to any of our paid performances on that given day. The detailed parking policy of Müpa Budapest is available here.
Safe ticket purchase
Dear Visitors, please note that only tickets purchased from the Müpa website and official ticket offices are guaranteed to be valid. To avoid possible inconvenience, we suggest buying tickets to our performances and concerts via the mupa.hu website, the Interticket national network (jegy.hu) or at our official ticket offices.
Accept all