Tokaj Harvest Days on the First Weekend of October

Open cellars, vineyard tours and cultural events await visitors between October 3 and 5 at the Tokaj-Hegyalja Harvest Days, one of Hungary's oldest harvest festivals, organizers told MTI.

They wrote that the venue for the event, which has been held since 1932, will be the Tokaj Festival Valley this year, but programs are also being prepared at various locations throughout the town for the weekend. Among other things, the Tokaj-Hegyalja University's agricultural technical college will welcome visitors with an all-day harvest extravaganza on Saturday, and the Tokaj Winegrowers' Association will also organize vineyard tours on that day. In addition, open cellars and cultural events will add color to the program throughout the weekend, and a sightseeing train and electric minibus will run between the festival venues.

The aim of the festival is to showcase the traditions, values and cultural diversity of the Tokaj wine region to the general public. The main venue of the event will feature a wine courtyard and a gastro walk, complemented by a craft fair, a crafts street and family programs.

One of the most spectacular events of the festival is the harvest parade to be held on Saturday afternoon with cheerleaders, wine knights, traditionalists, horsemen and decorated vehicles parading through the streets of the town. This is followed by the grape harvest ceremony, during which the mayors of the World Heritage wine region symbolically combine the harvests of their municipalities. The Mayors' Wine made from this harvest symbolizes tradition and unity. The wine is not commercially available and is used for representative purposes only.