Debrecen's deputy mayor for culture introduced the festival organized every year since 1972, welcoming wine lovers and jazz enthusiasts to Lake Békás.Continue reading
Twelve flower floats, thirty-seven artistic groups, more than 1,500 dancers, performers, and musicians marched on Sunday at the Debrecen Flower Carnival (in eastern Hungary), held for the 57th time in the heart of the city on August 20, reports Magyar Nemzet.
This year’s carnival was held in the spirit of sustainability: six of the twelve vehicles carrying flower arrangements were electrically powered, with the aim of making all flower floats in the “city of electromobility” electric in the future, said László Papp (Fidesz-KDNP), mayor of Debrecen.
The carnival procession was opened by a composition of the Holy Crown and the coronation insignia,
a replica of which was also presented in Esztergom, celebrating its 1,050th birthday this year, during the week of celebrations around August 20th.
The carriage traditionally shared by Debrecen and Oradea (Nagyvárad, former part of Hungary, now Romania) represented the zero meridian, vital to the development of navigation and cartography, which was kept in Oradea Castle between 1464 and 1667. Photo via MTI/Balázs Attila
Among the floral compositions, there were some very special ones this year: the pharmaceutical company Teva created the first ever carriage in the history of carnivals, scented with the fragrance of a forest full of medicinal plants, while the BMW Group, a first-time participant in the festival, decorated its carriage with more than a thousand plants that will be planted after the carnival in schools, kindergartens, social institutions, and the car factory.
The flower composition of pharmaceutical company, Teva. Photo via Facebook/Debreceni Virágkarnevál
The Hortobágy riders led the crane, the heraldic bird of the Hortobágy National Park, which is 50 years old this year, while the swallow-tailed butterflies on the Hungarian Post’s carriage referred to the postal deliverymen who, like them, cover “long distances.”
Photo via MTI/Balázs Attila
The composition entitled “The world is a more colorful place with classics” evoked the Kodály Philharmonic Orchestra of Debrecen, and the flower carriage of the Forum shopping center commemorated the 15th anniversary of the center’s existence. The car of the Gergely Bornemissza Reconnaissance Regiment of the Hungarian Defense Forces symbolized courage, manly strength, and heroism.
The composition of the Defense Forces. Photo via MTI/Balázs Attila
Among the floral compositions, 37 artistic groups marched in the carnival procession from Piac Street to the Great Forest of Debrecen: alongside local musicians, dancers, and performers from Austria, Croatia, China, Italy, Serbia, India, Spain, and Germany.
After the parade, visitors were able to view the flower floats in the northern event area of the Great Forest (Nagyerdei) Stadium, where they could take pictures with several of the compositions.
The dancers of Lesz Dance at the carnival. Photo via MTI/Balázs Attila
On August 20, the Flower Carnival was accompanied by a number of events in Debrecen: the Galiba Festival featured a program of activities for children in the amusement park, the Dance the City program with artistic groups from different parts of Debrecen, and 30 Hungarian craft breweries were present at the Békás Lake in the Great Forest.
The Debrecen events of August 20th ended in the evening with a carnival fiesta on Kossuth Square in front of the Reformed Church of Debrecen.
Via Magyar Nemzet, Featured image via MTI/Balázs Attila