State events marking the August 20 national holiday celebrating Hungary’s first Christian king, St Stephen, will be held over a period of three days, the state secretary for international communications and relations said. The celebrations will honour a more than 1,000-year-old state that protects not only its own identity and culture but also the culture, borders and identity of Europe, Zoltán Kovács told a press conference.
Programmes include a gastronomy festival of Hungarian specialties starting on August 18. The celebrations on August 20 will begin with the hoisting of the national flag in front of Parliament and an oath-taking ceremony for 130 new soldiers. The event will be addressed by President János Áder and Defence Minister Tibor Benkő. Their speeches will be followed by a military air parade. The highlight of the celebrations will again be the traditional fireworks spectacle to be held along the banks of the River Danube.