For the next week, Cluj will celebrate the Hungarian part of its heritage. This includes concerts, fairs, sports, religious services, poetry, visual arts, history, and hopefully a few reenactments. And of course, you can expect to find more Langos than usual.
There are a lot of crafts events, we are not sure what language they are in. We recommend you wear sports clothes if you are going to try archery, pottery, or that kind of thing.
In English?
Among other things, there is a video called “Baska speaks Hungarian,” a documentary about someone (Baska) who was deported from his home town (in another country, not Cluj) for speaking Hungarian. You can find that on the 19th of August at University Sapienta, and yes, there are English subtitles. There is a discussion with director after the screening, but that might be in Hungarian.
Most of the films will probably not have English subtitles, but you can enjoy the food, dancing, and even the music without understanding the language. The art museum also has an exhibit you might enjoy.
If that is not your thing, the Botanical Garden is open, and there are some nice new flowers there. In addition to cacti and basil, there are new flower arrangements and the lilly pads in the greenhouses have grown to full size. The museum appears to be closed for maintenance. Sorry we were on holiday, so we forgot to write about the bonzai show (it was interesting).
Linguistic fears (just fluff)
If someone speaks to you in Hungarian, and you do not understand, you can simply say, sorry, you do not speak Hungarian. Bocsi, nem beszelek magyarul. (bow-chee, nem be-sail-ek mag-ya-rule).
Ma scuzati, nu vorbeste maghiarul. (I don’t speak Hungarina, in Romanian. Do not say this if they are speaking Romanian to you, unless you think they will find it funny).
Mai flyn da fi, ddwy ddim yn siarad gymraeg. (I do not speak Welsh, in Welsh. If you really don’t feel like talking, you could also try, Mai flyn da fi, dw-i ddim yn siarad saesneg, which means “I am sorry, I do not speak English.” and then unless they want to have a conversation through Google translate, most people will give up.)
If you hear a greeting like “Jo napok kivanok.” (yo na-poke key-va-nok) or “szia” (see-ya), you can reply with the same phrase. Or, say, “neked is” (ne-ked ish). The same (to you).
Anyway, the program is available online in Romanian and Hungarian. We might translate a little into English if we have time. https://zilelemaghiare.ro/program/