Góbéfest, the celebration of Transylvanian food, culture and music, is to return to Manchester later this month. Now in its sixth year, it will take up residence in Cathedral Gardens and Exchange Square from June 24 to 26, bringing a taste of the Carpathian Basin to the city.
There will be a dedicated food and drink market, stages for choirs, folk music ensembles and solo artists, as well as tents for storytelling, crafts and workshops. And for the first time, the Sunday’s events will be dedicated to dance, featuring folk groups in the Bulgarian, Ukrainian, Hungarian, Romanian and Polish traditions.
Performers will be hailing from across Eastern Europe, from Transylvania, Ukraine, Poland, Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary and Romania. There will also be a wealth of food from the region too.
Stalls will boast delicacies such as langos (deep fried flatbreads topped with creme fraiche and cheese), mititei (barbecued Romanian skinless sausages made from pork, lamb and beef) and disznó flekken (grilled pork steak). There will also be halaszle, the paprika-heavy fish soup, stuffed cabbage rolls, chicken paprikash and goulash.
Transylvanian artisan craft brewery Csiki Sor will also be in attendance, along with a Pálinka bar, serving the traditional - and powerful - Hungarian fruit spirits. The music on offer will also span the region.
Hungarian folk band Barozda will be making their debut at the festival, as will Tokos, a six piece band featuring strings and accordion made up of students of the Kolozsvár Music Academy in Transylvania. Non-folk artists include the MIRO Ensemble (Manchester International Roots Orchestra), led by Romanian-born double-bass player and composer Michael Cretu, and Stikli, the pop-rock band from Budapest.
There will be plenty for families too. Storytelling tents will run through the day, as well as the Cimborák Puppet Theatre Company from Transylvania, which recreates folk tales. This year it will be performing stories from famous Szekler Hungarian writer Elek Benedek.
Góbéfest was founded in 2017 by Ottilia Ördög, who has been part of the Manchester music scene for over 20 years, having worked on the likes of Tony Wilson’s pioneering In The City. It was started to celebrate the culture and traditions of the Székler people, a minority group of ethnic Hungarians living in Transylvania, part of Romania.
She said: "I started Góbéfest in 2017 so I could share the culture and traditions of my Transylvanian homeland with my Mancunian friends. Living in Manchester since the 1990s, I learned plenty about the local music scene, promoting my own drum and bass nights and working closely with Tony Wilson.
"I felt that the time had come to bring a little piece of Transylvania to Manchester. Over the years, the festival has grown to include artists from the entire Carpathian Basin region, bringing the sights, sounds and of course tastes and smells of this fascinating part of eastern Europe to Manchester. When we experience other cultures, our understanding and love for each other grows."
For more information, and details about the events, go to the Góbéfest website.
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