Agria 42. (Az Egri Múzeum Évkönyve - Annales Musei Agriensis, 2006)

Pálosné Nagy Rózsa: Szüretek, szüreti mulatságok Gyöngyösön

VARGHA Tivadar 1909 Gyöngyös földmívelő lakói. In: Gyöngyösi Kalendárium 1909. évre. 147-155. Gyöngyös. 1910 Népszokások Gyöngyösön. In. Gyöngyösi Kalendárium. 1910. évre. 94-113. Gyöngyös. Mrs Rózsa Nagy Pálos Grape Harvesting and Grape Harvesting Festivities in Gyöngyös Gyöngyös has produced red and white wines ever since the 13th century. The date and order of the harvest can be found in the records of the municipal council, as announced a fortnight before the beginning of proceedings. Lasting from the end of September to the beginning of November, the poorest would harvest on one particular day, the smaller growers for a few days and the larger ones for a number of weeks even. Apart from being work the harvest was considered a national holiday, a period of great joy and happiness for the owner, the helpers, the visitors and daylabourer alike. The nature of the work and its festive character help to explain the harvesting traditions and celebrations. Besides the work the Gyöngyös hoer also liked their fair share of jollity, and it was for this reason excuses for amusement were found at every opportunity. Among the events were the festivities connected with the final day of the grape harvest, which became a permanent feature from the mid-19th century, made all the more colourful by the addition of parades. The participants, dressed up in traditional Hungarian costumes and fancy dress, paraded through the town, the day ending in an evening of music and dance at the ball. The vines on the foot of the Mátra were wiped out by the phylloxera epidemic of 1885 to 1888, something that put an end to the harvesting celebrations and the parades. Instead they burnt fires of atonement on the borders of the town from vine-shoots and straw. With the planting of the new vineyards from the beginning of the 20th century harvests resumed in Gyöngyös. The organisation of the reinstated harvest celebrations is associated with the name of teacher and headmaster Tivadar Vargha. By 1904 two harvest parades had already been held in the town, and from that point on they became an annual occurrence. Harvest celebrations also came 402