Hudaks Aren't People. The Wedding Will Be

Overview

"Hudaks aren't people" is a line from a traditional Transcarpathian song. Thus, hudaks, the village musicians who play at weddings, have long been separated from the rest of the people. It works the same way at a wedding: they have a separate table from the guests, separate transportation, and special treatment. They are most often self-taught musicians who inherited their profession from their father or grandfather. They are usually the "stars" in the village, people talk about them, because life around them tends to be in full swing, even when they seem to be surrounded by ordinary rural life: milking a cow, feeding a goat, herding sheep, slaughtering pigs for Christmas, mowing hay, or going to the Czech Republic for a "stroiky".