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International Kodály FestivalKecskemét

Held in odd years, from mid-July to the start August

The festival - which takes place in the town where Zoltán Kodály was born, in parallel with the International Kodály Seminar - generally includes a list of 9 or 10 concerts. It offers distinguishedmusicians from Hungary and abroad the opportunity to perform. The programme of concerts isprincipally composed of Kodály, Bartók and Liszt but emphasis is also placed on contemporary Hungarian music. The festival includes solo, chamber music and choral concerts. Young prize-winners from the highest-ranking international festivals are given the opportunity to perform in the "Crescendo" concert series. The Seminar allows interested experts to acquaint themselves with Kodály’s musicology in theory and in practice.

Centuries of tradition are preserved in Kecskemét, which lies on the Great Hungarian Plain. Especially noteworthy is the former Franciscan monastery that now houses the Zoltán Kodály Musical Institute, the former synagogue, as well as the "Ornamented Palace", a prime example of Hungarianart nouveau, and the Town Hall. The thematic collections of the town’s museums are most distinguished: the Bozsó Collection, the Hungarian Naive Artists’ Museum, the Soracatenus Toy Museum, the Hungarian Museum of Photography, and the Hungarian Museum of Popular Applied Art. For decades the International Ceramic Studio has been a significan tartistic workplace. Kecskemét is also the centre of the Kiskunság National Park. The area around the town is principally of interest to those interested in village life.