On two weekends in May, the Zsolnay Cultural Quarter in Pécs welcomes visitors with open-air events. It will be worth packing a blanket for both, as a host of music and children’s programmes and cultural treats that can be enjoyed sitting on the grass await visitors at the Ritmo Picnic on 17 May and at the traditional Zsolnay Picnic on the weekend of 30 May.
In mid-May, one of the most important world music events in the Central European region, the 10th anniversary edition of Ritmo, comes to Pécs as part of Bartók Spring, celebrating the meeting of cultures with day-long pop-up concerts in the cultural quarter.
Among the colourful, family-friendly programmes, Kanizsa Csillagai, Poklade and Hakumba will provide a Balkan and world music atmosphere, while children can enjoy the fairy-tale Kukutyin – Mester tér play village, with old crafts and a village atmosphere. The Ritmo Picnic is organised by Müpa as part of Bartók Spring, as a joint programme with Hangvető, and admission is free.
At the traditional Zsolnay Picnic in Pécs, held from 30 May to 1 June, visitors can enjoy concerts, children’s programmes, creative workshops, gastronomy programmes and special experiences worthy of the Quarter’s spaces.
Eszter Takáts offers a chance for reflection with her intimate, thought-provoking songs, while Cimbaliband’s performance combines an Eastern European feel with folk music. Szonja Oroszlán and Steve Hajdu will recite, sing and choose from hundreds of funny, festive and lofty Hungarian song-poems. The duo of Tamás Szabó and Zoltán Nemes will come with their show “All comes back”, cserihanna will guide the audience into the world of alternative pop, and Jusztina Radóczy and György Pataj, aZorka and Szesztay Dávid Zenekara are also coming to Pécs.
Families and children can look forward to performances by Babusgató, the Zabszalma band and the Bóbita Puppet Theatre, a Lego Duplo playroom and volunteers from the Nevetnikék Foundation with games, music and skill challenges; Varázsóra offers spectacular physics experiments, and the Planetarium will run spectacular dome shows throughout.
Good news for fans of playful theatre: in addition to the Bóbita Puppet Theatre’s show, a Füge-Pagony Production is also coming to Pécs with the play Matricás Laci és a nagy zenebona (Sticker Laci and the Big Racket).
The picnic experience is further enriched by the Mandulás workshop, which introduces visitors to the world of creative confectionery making, while those who want to walk off the tasty bites can join the programme The Zsolnay Family’s Time Travel, a live-action adventure in which we can discover the fascinating story of Vilmos and Júlia Zsolnay and the rest of the family. The Travelling Camera Obscura installation offers a special optical experience, and the exhibitions of the Pécs Photo Spring (Pécsi Fotótavasz) also await visitors.
Beyond the free programmes, there will also be ticketed evening events: on 30 May the Kollár-Klemencz Kamarazenekar gives a concert titled Anyám tenyere (My Mother’s Palm), on 31 May Róbert Koltai and Tamás Jordán hold an evening called Az semmi! (That’s Nothing!), and on 1 June well-known Aznavour and Piaf chansons will be performed by Attila Bardóczy and Adél Jordán.
More information about the two events is available on the zsolnaynegyed.hu website.
Source: MTI