Hel'pa Folklore Festival

Last weekend, the American teachers went on our last trip together. We went to a traditional Slovak folklore festival in Hel’pa, a small town about two hours away from Tisovec. During the summer, it is customary for each village and town to have their “Days.” Tisovec has a weekend of “Tisovec Days,” and Hel’pa had its weekend of “Hel’pa Days.” On these weekends, the whole town comes out to perform traditional Slovak dances, buy and sell traditional Slovak products such as medovina (honey wine), wooden kitchenware, leather merchandise, kroj (traditional Slovak dress), and much more. The best parts of the larger festivals are when the towns host folklore dancing. Hel’pa has one of the largest festivals in Slovakia --- they have even built an outdoor ampitheater out of wood to host hours and hours of Slovak dancing.

We arrived in Hel’pa early Saturday morning and did some shopping. I bought a set of six wooden spoons – something I have been wanting to do all year. (Wooden spoon are the best thing to use when eating Slovak gulas… and I keep telling my mother that I want to build a fire pit in our backyard so that we can make true Slovak gulas in pot. Watch out mom, because now I have the proper cutlery for our gulas adventure!) At about mid-morning, we met one of our first year students and followed her back to her house. Viktoria had been kinda enough to offer us her backyard so that we could set up a tent and camp there during the festival. When we got to Viktoria’s house, we were surprised to find her entire family there – mom, sister, aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandma. They were in the midst of making gulas for the group. So, while the gulas was cooking, we hung out with her family.

We were completely shocked when her uncle brought a “surprise” as an appetizer. This is what Tomas purchased for the group’s enjoyment:



Yes, we ate it.

After gulas, we all went to the ampitheater to watch folklore dancing. Here are some of the groups we saw.
The clothes that they wear are their particular town’s style of kroj. Typically Slovaks will still wear kroj to special occasions such as weddings or confirmations.





Hel’pa was a wonderful way to celebrate my last full weekend in Slovakia. I have enjoyed getting to know this rich culture and history, and I believe there is a lot that I will take home with me.