Your program on the national holiday

As part of the St. Stephen's Day event series, in addition to the state events, several interesting programs await you on August 18-20. among those celebrating in the capital. Special events commemorate the founding of the state at many locations in Budapest.

at the Bécsi kapu tér evangelical church in the castle district of Buda . Reformed bishop Zoltán Balog, the pastor president of the Council, preaches a word. On August 20, the series of festive events traditionally begins with the raising of the nation's flag. Kossuth Square , the national tricolor will be raised with a military salute, followed by the public swearing-in of newly graduated army officer candidates from the National University of Public Service.

air parade starts at nine o'clock in the morning , in the framework of which the pilots' attractions can be seen on the section between the Lánchíd and Margit híd. During the military air parade, the public can see the low flyovers of the types of aircraft organized by the Hungarian Armed Forces individually and in groups. In the second part of the parade, the A321 of the airline Wizz Air, the Airbus A330 Neo belonging to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Aeroexpress Embraer 120 and Cessna 206 Hydroplanes will be observed.

Masses are held at 8:30 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. the St. István Basilica The Basilica and Szent István Square will be closed from 1:00 p.m. due to a security check, and will be opened again from 3:00 p.m. to those arriving for the festive mass, which begins at 5:00 p.m. in the square in front of the Basilica. The Holy Mass will be presented by Dr. Péter Erdő Cardinal, Primate, Archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest with the members of the Episcopal Faculty, Archbishop Bernard Bober of Kassa will give a homily. The Mass is traditionally followed by the Holy Right Procession.

Your program cavalcade in the capital

Many interesting programs will take place in the capital, most of which will start on August 18. On Kossuth Square, life-like replicas of Holy Crown and Scepter , as well as Saint Jobb, Golden Train . The assembly was made for the 900th anniversary of the death of St. István in 1938, but the railway car carrying St. Job on a national tour was destroyed during the Second World War. On the initiative of the Budakeszi Cultural Foundation, the reconstruction of the train started in 2015, as a result of which the Golden Train was handed over on August 20, 2020.

Similar to last year, the Csárdafestival on Vörösmarty Square . A cloud of aromas will fill the space: stews are simmering in a cauldron, roasts are being prepared in a show oven, and fish soup is in a cauldron. The gastronomic experience is provided by seven taverns with nearly 150 dishes. The varied menus include Csángó steak, Gemenci venison stew with wild mushrooms, Hargita flekken and juniper berry-cranberry beef stew, but the 1,500 HUF one-dish dishes available everywhere are also part of the offer. August 18-20 for the event. lovers of traditional flavors can visit between In addition to the csárdas, stage programs - sheet music, gypsy music, folk music and folk dance performances - make the event more interesting.

Another gastronomic event awaits visitors on the other side of the Danube the Carpathian Basin will be waiting for those interested in the gastronomy of the Carpathian Basin at Magyar Ízek Utcá from August 18, where you can taste not only domestic but also specialties from across the border, such as Subcarpathian, Csangó, and Highland specialties .

Here you will also be able to taste St. Stephen's Day bread , which this year became the durum bread of Heim Sütöde Bt. Every year, great anticipation precedes the of Hungary's cake and sugar-free cake, which traditionally takes place in Magyar Ízek Utcá. This year, in the former category, Pál Lakatos Spicces fig respektus from Szigetszentmiklós confectioner's Levendula és Kert confectionery won, while in the sugar-free competition, Zsófia Lawal-Papp's dessert named Kikelet from Papp Cukrászda in Makó won first place.

From there, you only have to walk a short distance to the Árpád Tóth promenade , but it's worth it: on August 19 and 20, there will be fifteen-hour performances , during which you can experience the heroic moments of Hungarian history up close. The tactical diplomatic moves of King St. István; Saint László's heroic self-sacrifice; János Hunyadi's quick situational awareness that stopped the Turks; the heroism of the women defending the castle in Eger; the death-defying conspiracy of Kossuth's emissary; Hungarian hussar colonel Ottmár Muhr's self-sacrificing act that changed the course of World War I; as well as the order of László Duska, captain of the 2nd Hungarian Army fighting on the Don, to save his soldiers and risk a court-martial, both come to life.

Artúr Gombóc, piano music, fireworks

Of course, interesting programs await even the smallest ones on August 18-20. between: at the , children can meet Süsü, Artúr Gombóc and the giant puppet of Nagy Ho-Ho Horgász at the live music concert of the Ezővolt Mesezenekar The little ones will have great fun at last year's popular prince and princess training program, as well as at the the Firebirds group, . The Tintaló Társulat with a mini puppet theater , the enterprising ones can even send a message to the future with the help of the time capsule of the Magic Grove.

On Gellért Hill, in the Philosophers' Garden, the Panorama Classical event awaits music lovers. The concert series will feature the Szent István Király band, the Budapest Garrison Band of the Hungarian Armed Forces, and the Óbuda Danubia band and formations. The new highlight of the series of festive events, Vigadó Piano, will also take place on August 18-20. awaits the audience between The space next to the Danube is filled with piano music from early afternoon into the evening: French chanson, American bar music, and in addition to sophisticated pop music programs, Charlie and Demjén Ferenc will also perform.

There will be electronic and live music programs on Erzsébet tér as part of the Szabadrét Festival August 19-20 on the Műeyetem wharf popular Hungarian bands perform between the Road Movie Live program series, they perform their songs written at the request of VOLT FILM, which were inspired by a domestic region, city, village, or even just a street or a building.

"The Saint Stephen's Day fireworks have become a kind of symbol of Hungary, which is watched by millions on the spot and in front of the screens," said Gergő Kotasz, the communications officer of NUVU Kft., which organizes the fireworks on August 20, This year's artistic concept was created by Árpád Iványi and Barnabás Réti, the visual design was created and programmed by Anikó Seres, and the musical score was composed by Norbert Elek using classic Hungarian classical music melodies. The fireworks will be complemented by the graphic light painting of the Parliament and the buildings on the Danube and a drone show. During the fireworks, 34,000 pyrotechnic effects will be visible, which will be fired from 230 launch points.

Author: Tamás Császár

Cover image: Photo: MTI/Márton Mónus