Hungary’s coldest village organises a Cold Festival – Program Guide, VIDEO

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During the cold winter months, many people want nothing more than the warmth of home. Still, there is a special Hungarian festival to celebrate winter minuses together. Zabar, also called the Hungarian Siberia, awaits its visitors with a special frost festival this weekend.

At first glance, there is nothing special about the remote, tiny village of Zabar. Still, the small village – located in the north of Nógrád County – holds a special record. It has the coldest average winter temperature in Hungary. Therefore, the tiny village is also known as the Hungarian Siberia. An even more surprising fact is that Zabar organises a special festival every year to celebrate winter minuses.

In 2020, the village hosted its first cold festival to start a tradition, but last year, the event was cancelled due to the coronavirus outbreak.

This year, however, the Zabar Winter Festival will be held for the second time, on 8th January, awaiting its visitors with special, entertaining programmes.

Accordingly, visitors can participate in a cooking competition, mulled wine competition, brandy tasting, skiing, and musical theatre performances. In addition, József Mónus, Hungarian world-champion long-range archer, will light the bonfire of the cold festival with a flaming arrow. As Sokszínű Vidék reports, entry to the winter festival is free of charge.

In the village, temperatures can sometimes drop below zero even in the spring months. As Földjaró reports, last year, -5.9 °C was measured on 28 April 2021. Furthermore, in the winter months, the temperature can drop below -20 °C.

Last year, on 13th February, the temperature dropped to -25.8 °C.

The freezing temperatures are described by a funny proverb in the village. It is said that, in Zabar, it is so cold in the winter that the cat breaks in two when it turns a corner.