HUNGARIAN HARVEST DANCE
The tradition of the Hungarian Harvest Dance began in the very early years of Hungarian Settlement and became an annual event by 1921. Community member theorize that the early settlers either brought the dances from Hungary when they came to America, or reconstructed them from what they remember taking place in their native villages.
In traditional-style costumes and accompanied by authentic Hungarian folk music, their dance group performs a series of dances that date back to the early years of Hungarian Settlement. The dancers, dressed in white costumes, decorated in red, white, and green (the colors of the Hungarian flag), still perform beneath a canopy of fruit, hanging from the rafters to commemorate the harvest season. At the completion of the dance routine, the audience is invited to “steal” the fruit. In conjunction with the annual Harvest Dance, the AHSCA offers Hungarian Dinners that usually consist of cabbage rolls (toltott kaposzta), cucumber salad (uborka salata), Hungarian sausage (kolbasz) and homemade Hungarian bread and pastries.