43rd National Táncház Festival & Fair • 5–7 April 2024
Issue:
Starting page: 3
 =>  
The story of the Téka Camp – excerpts from Lányi György’s book: “Meséld el, Gyurkedli…!“ [My stories from 40 years with the Téka Ensemble]. Distributed by Hungarian Heritage House. The first Téka Camp was held in 1983 in Hungary’s Őrség region. Everyone was surprised when over 300 young people flocked to the camp to learn and play Hungarian village music, dance, do folk crafts and be together for a week in the summer. Within a couple years they moved to another location outside the village of Nagykálló in Northeastern Hungary where Téka Camp was held until 1999, with as many as 1,200 people attending, at its peak. The Ensemble then moved the camp to Boldogkőváralja in the Zemplén region. “The idea of a camp first occurred to Téka when we wanted to play music at night [in the city], we’d get kicked out every time - sometimes politely, sometimes more aggressively….” The band needed a place where they could play and people could dance to their hearts content – which could mean until morning.