The National Association of Large Families (NOE) held its 35th Autumn Meeting in Kalocsá, in Érsekkert, after most of the country's cities with county rights, to which families came from all over the country. The number of visitors to the big concert on Saturday afternoon reached two thousand people.
From the equipment of the stage, the Platán Event Center, one could already guess that the event, which has become a tradition since 2019, will not be missed this year either: the wedding of a young couple will be organized at the meeting place under the name Big Family Wedding. In Kalocsán, after the opening, Panka and Benedek, the couple who won the NOE's national competition for newly engaged couples this year, tied the knot on the main stage in the presence of close relatives. For their wedding, the association provided the invitations, flower arrangements, lunch for up to thirty people, and even the registrar's fee.
The undisclosed goal of the wedding is for as many people as possible to enjoy the joy of the wedding by seeing the happy couple, and to encourage as many people as possible to tie their lives together.
Kalocsa is a wonderful city, but the beauty and meaning of the squares, parks, and buildings are given by our human encounters and shared experiences.
The fact that we can enjoy each other, we can enjoy the wonders of the city and its surroundings. When we taste Kalocsa paprika together, not only the food but also the taste of life will be better. When we look together and try on the local costumes together, not only our clothes will be more beautiful, but also our lives. I thank the members of the Kalocsa Sokszínvirág Large Family Association, the volunteers, and Dr. To Mayor Géza Filvig for doing everything for us - Katalin Kardosné Gyurkó, president of the association with 16,000 member families, said in her greeting.
It is a great honor for Kalocsa that this year the Archbishop's Garden was chosen as the location of the NOE's large-scale Autumn Meeting. The city administration supported the event wholeheartedly, as our priority commitments include supporting the families of Kalocsa and improving the educational conditions of the children. In order to do this, in recent years we have delivered a new kindergarten and playgrounds, as well as improved the infrastructure of the old kindergartens and our outdoor community spaces. It is important to us that Kalocsa is an attractive and livable settlement for families, especially families with small children.
For this reason, I would like to especially thank President Katalin Kardosné Gyurkó for her inquiry and her positive attitude towards our beloved city. I trust that this event will also be the beginning of a long, joint and fruitful relationship! We warmly welcome all members of the close-knit community of NOE in Kalocsá, the capital of the Hungarians - emphasized mayor Dr. Géza Filvig.
Andrea Kisné Szirtes, head of the Kalocsa Sokszínvirág Large Family Association, highlighted in her speech:
"It is a great honor to organize an Autumn Meeting. It involved a lot of tasks, but the members of our association united and helped the meeting with their work. I hope that all participants will find a program close to their heart. The city's museums can be visited free of charge or with discounted tickets. Of course, we will present Kalocsa's hungaricums, since only our city has two: folk art and paprika."
Caramel's concert was an event that attracted a large number of outsiders as well. Afterwards, the Csajgorás group of the Kalocsai Bokréta Folk Art Association, then the Piros Rózsa Dance Group gave a show, followed by a dance hall with live music. The stage program ended with a concert by the local Country Road, several of the band's musicians are members of the large family association in Kalocsa.
The focus is on the protection of marriage and life, and respect for motherhood
Founded in 1987, NOE currently operates throughout the country with more than 250 local communities and around 16,000 member families. The national work is supported by seven regional centers. The number of their volunteers is close to 1,500. In addition to building a family community and preserving values - the focus of which is the protection of marriage and life, and respect for motherhood - the NOE protects the interests of families and provides opportunities for fun relationship building and entertainment at its national and local events.
The local group in Kalocsa was founded in 2003 and then became an association in 2005. They currently operate with 94 members raising three or more children, as well as 12 supporting families with one or two children. Their permanent programs include the carnival, the World Marriage Day dinner and ball, the children's and family day, and the Christmas celebration.
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