Preserve the past, shape the future!

In 2026, we will continue to welcome our visitors with temporary exhibitions, themed programs, museum tours, and a variety of interactive experiences as part of our sustainability-themed program series.

At Skanzen, Hungary’s largest open-air ethnographic museum, we use real-life examples to help our visitors understand sustainable thinking. For us, the legacy of the past is also about solutions for the future. Through our exhibitions, green-themed programs, and museum education activities, we help visitors discover how rural traditions can become living knowledge in everyday life.

Together for Sustainability

Our temporary exhibitions explore the theme of sustainability through the museum’s collection. The season kicks off in the spring of 2026 with a contemporary art exhibition titled “Indestructible Objects,” followed by the opening of "Together for Sustainability!" , a community-curated exhibition organized around the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which connects ethnographic heritage, museum best practices, and today’s approach to sustainability.

The Alföld market town’s new exhibition, “This Is Not Just a Farm!” – opening soon – draws attention to the mutually shaping relationship between landscape and people, while this year’s exhibition at the PontITT Gallery in the entrance building explores the question of how we can make our world more livable.

Evergreen Knowledge

What makes the Skanzen unique is that it is located within the Danube-Ipoly National Park, in a nature conservation area; in other words, the museum is organically integrated into the local ecosystem. Our gardens are not merely backdrops, but historical gardens based on ethnobotanical research, showcasing traditional farming methods and crop cultivation. Thus, visitors can not only encounter authentic lifestyle models here, but also learn about the traditional knowledge of sustainable farming that is still applicable today.

The Organic Garden programs introduce chemical-free, sustainable gardening – from composting and mulching to water conservation – while our School Garden program teaches children the basics of traditional crop cultivation, from sowing to harvesting. The therapeutic power of gardening is demonstrated by our programs for people living with dementia.

Sustainable Heritage

We also showcase a sustainable approach in the field of architecture: our programs explore how traditional architectural knowledge can provide a model for eco-friendly renovations, conversions, or new home construction today. On our themed tours, at the Erdőhorváti Methodology House, and during our interactive presentations, we also introduce visitors to the uses and benefits of natural building materials – wood, stone, earth, and fired clay.

The open-air museum is not merely a collection of artifacts; thanks to decades of research, we also house documentation, drawings, and photographs of tens of thousands of buildings. Our staff continuously surveys settlements to preserve the heritage of folk architecture.

Experience, Community, Raising Awareness

The theme of sustainability is best experienced through hands-on activities at the museum. At our eco-themed festivals, museum education sessions, Heritage Workshop sessions, and interactive museum spaces, we encourage everyone to make conscious choices. Visitors can try out traditional techniques, ask questions of experts, and experience learning as a communal activity at our “Repair Café” programs.

Since thrift and reuse were fundamental characteristics of peasant culture, it is no wonder that most of our museum objects also live out their daily lives in the Skanzen in a secondary, tertiary, or even further-down-the-line function.

Green Event Calendar

Festivals

Green Festival – May 1, 2026
Whitsun Heritage Festival – May 24–25, 2026
The Soul of Bread Festival – August 20, 2026
'Free-from' Weekend – October 3–4, 2026

Exhibition Openings

Indestructible Objects, exhibition opening – April 10, 2026
Together for Sustainability!, exhibition opening – April 22, 2026

Green active venues

Honey-house
Wood-house
Witch’s brew
Grandmothers’ kitchen secrets