Chapter 3. Grape Harvest Feast as an Attempt to Develop Local Identity and Cultural Heritage. The Hungarian Case László Mód ABSTRACT: The author makes an attempt to analyze a special type of a local feast which is connected to the grape harvest. By the end of the 19th century a distinctive form of grape harvest feast arose in Hungary and spread even to regions where the climatic conditions did not allow the cultivation of vines and wine-making. The research was based on ethnographic fieldwork, namely participant observation, interviews, and archival sources. The example the author would like to analyze in this study is taken from the outlying area (Bokros) of the town of Csongrád in the south of Hungary. The paper has attempted to trace the process of how an invented tradition popular in the first half of the 20th century has been rediscovered by members of a community in a peripheral situation. The grape harvest feast can be used by the community as a means to construct and express its own local identity. KEYWORDS: cultural heritage, grape harvest feast, invented tradition, local identity Introduction In Hungary, as in many wine-growing countries, a great variety of rites have arisen over the centuries; some closely linked to Catholic religious practice, especially to the saints’ cult.1 By the end of the 19th century a distinctive 1 Although the majority of patron saints of vines are not related to vine-growing and wine-making, their feasts coincide with important work phases or with weather factors harmful to the vines. It was in this way that these saints came to be regarded as the protectors of vine-growing and wine-making at different critical stages. Patron saints may be associated with weather (e.g. Urban, Donatus) or may be patrons of the production, work, and harvest (e.g. Martin). There are also saints whose cult arose as the result of a natural catastrophe in the place concerned. The veneration of patron saints of vines spread in Hungary in the Middle Ages and their cult further strengthened in the 18th century with strong support from the Catholic church and aristocracy. While the protective function of the saints has been relegated to the background and the beliefs associated with them have disappeared, the vine-growing communities still like to organize their saints’ feasts and in many places these have become tourist attractions (Mód 2015a: 102–103).
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