64th Annual Hungarian Scout Festival

Ohio’s largest Hungarian festival returns! Festivities include delicious food, live musical entertainment, colorful authentic folk costumes, folk dance lessons and more at the 64th annual Hungarian Festival, presented by the American Hungarian Friends of Scouting, on Sunday of Labor Day weekend.

Ohio’s largest Hungarian festival will commence at 10:30 a.m. with a flag raising ceremony followed at 11 a.m. with catholic and protestant church services in Hungarian. The kitchens open at noon serving Hungarian delicacies to satisfy the palate with servings of stuffed cabbage, fresh sausages, grilled pork steak, goulash, chicken paprikas with dumplings, jam filled crepes, and “lángos” (fried dough). The Café Budapest will feature scrumptious tortes, pastries, and espresso coffee. Strudel and fresh baked bread also will be on the menu. All foods are available for take-out.

Musical entertainment will be provided live all afternoon by Walt Mahovlich and Harmonia, Alex Udvary and Kálmán Hegedeös. DJ Béla Szenta will help everyone dance the night away. Special guests this year are award winning musicians from Hungary, pianist László Gonda and violinist Ernő Báder. They will perform a lively concert at 7:30 p.m. in the main hall.

Also, new this year is the all-star soccer matches for adults and youth presented by participants of the Árpád Cup Soccer Tournament held during the previous days in Cleveland. The Hungarian Scout Folk Ensemble and members of the scout troops will perform in their colorful authentic folk costumes throughout the day from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. There will be free Hungarian folk dance lessons for all ages! Programs such as a live animal show, free kids’ activities, a book fair, folk art, and crafts, souvenirs and novelty items for sale will round out the festivities. This year’s raffle will again offer great prizes, many from Hungarian owned establishments in the greater Cleveland area.

All proceeds will benefit and support the activities of the nearly 250 Hungarian boy and girl scouts in Northeast Ohio. The festival is supported by a generous grant from Cuyahoga Arts and Culture and the Bethlen Gabor Foundation in Hungary.