• Haymaking course 15 to 21July • International Haymaking Festival 19 to 26 August Make friends, have fun, learn new skills and help to preserve valuable mountain hay meadows and their plants, wildlife and traditions in one of the last large-scale medieval landscapes of Europe. This is a great opportunity for nature lovers and those interested in traditional culture and sustainable living to learn about the connections between nature and farming by doing physical work alongside local people and participating in the art and science of hay making and related skills. Your visit will help our projects to improve rural incomes, support traditional agriculture, understand the ecology and biology of important wetlands and meadows, and identify and protect key species and habitats in need of conservation. Scrub-clearing working party 29 April to 5 May Help us to clear scrub from mountain hay meadows in preparation for the mowing season, and enjoy the start of spring in the Eastern Carpathians. Haymaking course 15 to 21July A new opportunity to learn every aspect of traditional haymaking working alongside the Sárig family. July displays the outstanding meadow flowers and butterflies at their most spectacular. International Haymaking Festival 19 to 26 August Now in its fourth year, the Gyimes Haymaking Festival is a celebration of traditional skills and crafts related to making hay. The programme depends on the weather but should include mowing by scythe, making hay, a mowing competition, learning how to make traditional rakes and scythes with a local craftsman, visiting the cows in the summer pastures, making and tasting cheese, horse and cart rides, collecting wild herbs, enjoying local food, learning about meadow plants and animals, testing your skill in folk dances. "I came to the Festival find out about and experience traditional haymaking, see the countryside and landscapes and some of its wildlife in a beautiful part of the world I had never been to before, meet some local people and experience some of their way of life – all of which I did, so it amply filled all those expectations. But the one thing I didn’t expect (and the thing I think I will remember the longest) were the truly inspiring people we met," Neil Diment, one of the participants of the 2011 haymaking festival. We can organise village accommodation, rail transfer from Miercurea Ciuc, airport transfers (from Tirgu Mures, Cluj-Napoca or Bucharest), and suggest a guide and an itinerary if you want to explore more of the area before or after the events. Places are limited, so send expressions of interest to barbara.knowles@yahoo.co.uk We can also organise tailor-made haymaking and other holidays in this beautiful region. Organizers: László Demeter, Attila Sárig Partner: Pogány-havas Microregional Association Sponsors: Barbara Knowles Fund, Global Environment Facility Small Grants Programme and Naturvernforbundet i Buskerud from Norway Report of Gyimes Haymaking Festival 21 to 28 August 2011
The 2011 haymaking festival was the best yet. Visitors from Norway, Austria, England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Romania and Hungary created a wonderful atmosphere of fun, learning and hard physical work. The sun shone, we enjoyed excellent food and drink, made new friends and mowed 2 ha of meadows which would otherwise have been abandoned. The novice mowers did incredibly well against experienced locals in our first ever mowing competition, a bit of fun which also achieved a lot of coverage in the local media and raised the profile of the event very successfully.
"I came to the Festival find out about and experience traditional haymaking, see the countryside and landscapes and some of its wildlife in a beautiful part of the world I had never been to before, meet some local people and experience some of their way of life – all of which I did, so it amply filled all those expectations. But the one thing I didn’t expect (and the thing I think I will remember the longest) were the truly inspiring people we met," Neil Diment, one of the participants of the 2011 haymaking festival.
You can watch a news item about the festival from the local TV station http://www.youtube.com/user/csikitvonline#p/u/20/VWqNJxDOJKs and read about the mowing competition in the blog of one of the participants http://scytherspace.wordpress.com/2011/09/03/transylvania-mowing-competition-2011/
In 2012 we plan at least two different haymaking events which will allow visitors to learn traditional haymaking methods, explore the fantastic biodiversity of mountain hay meadows, enjoy the culture and history of the Eastern Carpathians of Romania, and help us to protect and preserve some of the richest habitats in Europe. For more information contact barbara.knowles@yahoo.co.uk  Archive: Advertisement for the 2011 event Make friends, have fun, learn new skills and help to preserve valuable mountain hay meadows and their plants, wildlife and traditions in one of the last large-scale medieval landscapes of Europe.
This is a great opportunity for nature lovers and those interested in traditional culture to learn about the connections between nature and farming by doing physical work alongside local people and participating in the art and science of hay making and related handicrafts.
Now in its third year, the Gyimes Haymaking Festival is a celebration of traditional skills and crafts related to making hay. The programme depends on the weather but should include mowing by scythe, making hay, a haystack competition, learning how to make traditional rakes and scythes with a local craftsman, visiting the cows in the summer pastures, making and tasting cheese, horse and cart rides, collecting wild herbs, enjoying local food, learning about meadow plants and animals, testing your skill in folk dances.
We can organise basic village accommodation, airport transfers (from Cluj-Napoca or Bucharest), and suggest a guide and an itinerary if you want to explore more of the area before or after the festival. It is also possible to get here by train from Bucharest or Budapest.
The festival organiser runs a small guesthouse with basic but comfortable shared ensuite accommodation and full board for €15 per person per night. There should also be simple accommodation available with local families for a similar price, to include meals with the other festival participants. If you prefer a private room in a more modern guesthouse this is also available but at some distance from the festival so we would have to arrange local transport or you could hire a car.
 Programme subject to change depending on the weather
Sunday 21 August Arrival Evening showing of documentary "mountain hay meadows: hotspots of biodiversity and traditional culture" and an opportunity to talk to the director of the film
Monday Mowing (be prepared for an early start)
Tuesday Morning: making traditional hay making tools Afternoon: mowing competitions
Wednesday Collecting the hay
Thursday Visiting a traditional mountain summer house (kaliba), making cheese, picking mushrooms in the forests, preparing traditional food on open fire, traditional music Presentations by the participants about their own haymaking traditions from their homelands and their views of the local (Gyimes) culture
Friday Making the haystacks Pulling the haystacks with horses  Try out horse riding in the mountains evening of music and dance
Saturday a visit to Bilibok teto or to the Pogany-havas Microregion Learning about local medicinal herbs and their usage in Gyimes
Sunday Attend the morning church service if required Depart Places are limited, so send expressions of interest to barbara.knowles@yahoo.co.uk We can also organise tailor made haymaking and other holidays in the region. |
Hay making festivals |
