Transylvanian Crafts Festival

I think I can read the facial expression of a few of you (even though I can't see any of you) and your thoughts, when you see my post, thinking how many fairs are there to visit? And you're right. There's one almost every weekend, which lasts for three days and offers a great variety of activities and fairs as well.

I just got back from the newest one, that started yesterday and ends tomorrow and have a lot of beautiful photos to share with you and a lot of interesting stories as well.

The Transylvanian Crafts Festival had its 3rd edition this year and it looks like the continuation is guaranteed as people seem to enjoy what the festival offers them.

The main objective of the festival is to show people how craftsmen worked back in the day and the fair is to sell handmade products you don't find elsewhere.

It is held in the medieval fortress, which makes the experience more enjoyable. It's like going back a few centuries in time, like going to a medieval fortress and watch how people were working centuries ago and what fairs looked like back then.

First and foremost, there was an info point at the entrance, where you could learn about the fair and have all your questions answered.

This was the first scene you saw after entering, which was the blacksmith, heating the iron to make a knife. This is how they made things back in those day.

And then straightening the blade to get the thickness needed.

Then the blade is immersed in water, to cool it down and to strengthen it. It's a long process and requires quite a lot of strength as well. Today this process is not done manually anymore, mass production took over and everything is automated. There are still handmade knives, which can cost you an arm and a leg, but if you want quality, or a nice gift, worth paying.

There were a few products on the table, that caught the attention of this boy as well.

The good thing about this fair was that most of the artisans/sellers were working, creating something, so you could see basically how those products are made, ask questions as well.

This is how Easter eggs are decorated in some parts of Transylvania. It's a very nice tradition, the eggs are real beauties and doing the process perfectly is not easy, it's an art. I tried a few years ago and failed miserably 😆 So after that, I bought wooden eggs, painted like this and that's what I have on the table during Easter.

This is called egg lace or so and it's art at the highest level. Imagine the skills and precision you need to do these eggs. I have the utmost respect for those who can create such beauties.

Embroidery can never be missing. There were times when these pillowcases, tablecloths, wall mats were used to decorate their homes and everything was handmade. Industrialization came later, mass production was non existent, so you had to do everything yourself, or if you were well enough, pay ladies to do the work for you.

They had some lovely ceramics here and jewellery as well.

These ceramics were calling my name. This is the kitchenware once was used to as porcelain or china as you may know, was not known or unavailable for the poor. Now the table has turned, these items cost more than porcelain sometimes and people want to go back to using them. My dream is to have my kitchen equipped with these one day, when I'll have a house. Look at those plates and the red, dotted jars. How can you not love these?

This nice lady was embroidering what we call in Hungarian "írásos", which is very popular in Transylvania. I used to also do it and miss it, but don't have spare time for these things unfortunately. I asked the nice lady if I can take a photo of her working and she said yes. I loved her folk costume.

Straw products used to also be part of everyday life. Raw material was free as you could collect, dry and prepare it for use yourself. The items they were making were very useful, like baskets, bags, straw hats, decorations and so on. I should have bought @coolmidwestguy a straw hat 😜

It is amazing how many things you can do using just straw. Look at those bottle covers, place mats, bread baskets and wall decorations. Creativity has no limits.

This is it for today. Stay tuned for the next batch and till then, tell me if you've ever seen similar products or can create any of these.

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