Nimfea at the Shepherd Festival of Túrkeve

    This year the 8th Shepherd Festival was held in Túrkeve on 13-14 May. Nimfea Environment and Nature Conservation Association was represented at the festival, where the main focus was on the preservation of local traditions.
So the colleagues of the Association welcomed the guests of the Nimfea stall wearing traditional local folk costumes. The visitors could meet some of the most important actors of the Landscape Rehabilitation and Regional Development Program of Túrkeve, such as the small flock of traditional racka and merino sheep. The flock was very popular among the visitors, there was always someone around with a handful of grass feeding and making friends with the sheep.
The sheep were shepherd to the Nimfea stall on their feet, causing some surprise and amusement among the participants of the festival.

    A typical element of the traditional local architecture, a reed hut ("kontyos kunyhó") was built with the enthusiastic help of volunteers. This kind of reed hut was an essential building in the time where huge flocks of sheep grazed the grassland guarded by a shepherd and his dog.
Next to the reed hut traditional sheep stew was cooked on both days, which was a great success among the guests, and all dishes became soon empty.
Additional popular element was the huge, blow-up Hungarian grey cattle, attracting people, and especially children, who were happy to fight the balloon bull.
    Lots of free materials, brochures and newsletters were displayed and distributed at the stall, and passers-by also stopped to read and buy from all available publications.
The different initiatives of the association could be supported by purchasing "brick cards". The amount offered for these symbolic bricks will help the reconstruction of the windmill managed by the Association, the promotion of local horse riding education and the maintenance of the local forest hosting the educational center of the Association.
In addition T-shirts and baseball cups with special Nimfea designs could be bought. Next to the stall horse riding shows took place and all interested visitors could take a short ride on the patiently waiting horses, among them Barbi, the 4 year old mare of the Association.

    Saturday a conference was organized for veterinaries and other experts, where the landscape rehabilitation program of Nimfea was also presented as a model program for integrating grazing animal-keeping in innovative rural development concepts.

    Both days were cheerful and efficient, with a lot of visitors gaining better insight to the daily work and objectives of Nimfea. Although on Saturday the weather was a bit gloomy, the stall remained busy until the closing hour of the festival.
We wish to express our thanks to all of those who any way helped and supported our presence at the festival, and we hope that next year we can welcome even more guests either for a few friendly words or for a good meal. See you next May!