We returned to the XXXII Országos Táncháztalálkozó 2013 (Dance House Meeting) for our third and last time in Budapest, primarily to see this Hungarian Roma band, Magyarpalatakai Banda, from Transylvania (Romania), who we had seen last year and enjoyed so much. I used to do this kind of Hungarian folk dancing years ago, and so attending this annual event has been one of the highlights of my stay in Hungary. This time I met some of the members of the band, including Florin, the first violin, who I think is fantastic, and who told me he was going to Washington, D.C., in June to perform at the National Folklife Festival, which is celebrating Hungarian heritage.

In this image, the man at left is starting to perform a legényes (men's solo dance) for the band. I believe the boy at right is Florin's son. Photographs were not so easy to take down in the basement, but my husband was kind enough to record some of their performance and the crowd enjoying themselves dancing. It's long, but it's the real thing, and to me, the essence of Hungary.