Szadvar castle project and youth camp, Hungary

Dear Friends, it is time to look back at 2024 and summarize what happened in the last few months. Our association continued to work to save Szádvár, and with the help of volunteers and supporters, we managed to organize two of our main events and to launch a new project.

Unfortunately, we have to report that the traditional 'Save the Castle' days event in October has been cancelled due to the uncertain weather conditions. We were very sad to have to cancel the event, we had prepared a lot for it, but we would not have been able to work in the heavy rain. We hope that the weather in March 2025 will be more favorable during the chosen weekend.

The months October and November are usually quiet, we write applications, replace missing tools, collect ideas on how to develop further. One of our current main goals is to buy a property in the village that we could use as a constant base. This would make things much easier. 

The Community Archaeology Conference, held for the third time this year, provided an opportunity to raise exciting questions not only for professionals, but also for the large number of volunteers and outsider people who visited. Many aspects of community archaeology were brought to the surface, from the legal and institutional regulation of metal detecting to the digital find guide, the workload of archaeologists, and education. The role of all stakeholders was emphasized, from volunteers, archaeologists, museum management, and legislators. The difficulties and challenges we face were also discussed, up to the serious joint results achieved, which would not have been possible without community archaeological work. 

Viktor, an archaeologist, and Janos, our volunteer have also investigated this and collected what concrete results civil and professional cooperation has brought to both the Friends of Szadvar and the museum over the past 18 years. How did the initiative, which initially started only to clean the castle, expand to include valuable scientific results for archaeologists? We would like to thank everyone who supported, helped, or actively participated in any of our events. We are very grateful to you.

In October, we conducted an online survey among our followers on social media. We were curious about their opinions and suggestions regarding our activities. More than 50 people answered to the questions, for which we were very grateful. One of the main points of the survey was to identify the reasons why is the number of volunteers decreasing. Among those who do not plan to visit tha castle, most cited lack of free time and difficulties in taking vacations as reasons. Travel difficulties and problems with getting there came in second place, and financial reasons came in third place. There were surprises and suggestions as well, but surely we can use these in 2025.

The thesis being prepared by one of our members, in which she examines the Szádvár development project from a tourism perspective, will also be useful in the future.

There's nothing left for me to do but thank you for being here with us. In the name of the Friends of Szadvar, let me wish you and your loved ones a Happy New Year for 2025! Let us hope to meet in the castle next year!

After having sent out the last report, Friends of Szadvar had many exciting plans for an enjoyable summer. We had so much invitation to lectures, conferences, performances and other gatherings. However, God had a different plan for us so we were only able to participate in a few event due to various reasons. Nevertheless, we were able to initiate the realization of several long-planned projects during these past months.

At the end of May, we announced a new type of event called 'Mowing Day'. Our aim was to invite friends and volunteers to get rid of the rich vegetation which covered the castle due to the heavy rain. Together with this, we wanted to carry out the maintenance of the wooden surfaces of castle which was due this year. Six of our members and volunteers arrived on a humid and rainy day to clean the castle. In addition to cutting the nettles, we also managed to paint the wooden boards with varnish as well.

Some of our members represented the Association at the Castrum Bene annual conference of castle researchers in Sátoraljaújhely, where the results of current research projects were presented by several professionals. Between the sections, interesting and enjoyable excursions were lead by the organizers towards Hungarian and Slovak mansions and castles. 

The main event of our summer was of course the Save the Castle Week, during which more and more details of Szádvár were revealed with the help of the archaeologists. That week was truly rich in programs and finds, as we invited archaeologists to present their research projects after every day's hard physical work. We had high school students and their teachers to help us,  as well as new volunteers were welcomed among the walls of the castle. We would like to thank everyone who contributed somehow to making it a fantastic week again!

As it was mentioned in the introduction, some own projects were started by us during the summer. One of them is the idea of an online guestbook, which would help gather the opinions of visitors to the castle, through an online platform. This is still under development.  Another project was to translate the text of our Hungarian informative leaflet into English and Slovak languages, so that guests from abroad could also get some information during their visit. This was also realized with the help of volunteers.

See you next in October!