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Debrecen celebrates the Day of Hungarian Culture with a week-long series of events. On January 22, 2025, the City of Debrecen commemorated the Day with a series of festive events, drawing attention to the rich heritage, traditions, and material and spiritual values of Hungarian culture. The year 2025 is all about jubilees, as we are celebrating the jubilees of many people connected to Hungarian literature and arts, who are worth talking about. Jókai was born 200 years ago, Lőrinc Szabó 125 years ago, architect József Borsos 150 years ago, and Professor András Görömbei would have been 80 years old this year.
On the occasion of the 202nd anniversary of the birth of the hymn, a wreath-laying ceremony was held at the Debrecen Reformed College and at the Kölcsey statue on Péterfia Street. Deputy Mayor, István Puskás represented Debrecen at the event and at the series of events in Oradea.
The recognition of the Foundation for the Culture of Debrecen was also presented today in the renovated Simonffy Hall of the Old Town Hall. The foundation was established in 1991 with the intention of undertaking the patronage of the intellectual and cultural life of the city of Debrecen. It encourages the artistic and cultural aspirations of individuals, institutions, and groups, and helps to develop cultural relations both in our country and abroad.
Exactly one year ago today, on the Day of Hungarian Culture, the city of Debrecen and the Csokonai National Theatre announced a drama competition to commemorate the fact that 176 years ago, in 1849, Debrecen, as the capital of the country, took the lead in the cause of the War of Independence. The competition was expected to include new, individual, original works in Hungarian that present the historical period of Debrecen being the “guard city of freedom”. The winning plays of the Debrecen 175 drama competition, announced a year ago, were presented to the public on January 22, 2025, at the Simor Ottó Orpheum of Csokonai Forum. The first three works were performed in a reading theater setting by the theater’s actors.
To close the day, the audience could see a performance by the 75th-year-old Debrecen Folk Ensemble at the Csokonai Theatre. The performance “Our Masters’ Tales” was made on the occasion of the 90th anniversary of the birth and 25th anniversary of the death of the founder of the Debrecen Folk Ensemble, Dr. András Béres. During the performance, the audience could enjoy the most beautiful dances of Hajdúság, Hortobágy, Szatmár, Bihar, Rétköz and Transcarpathia.
Before the start of the performance, Mayor László Papp said in his ceremonial speech, “Our national traditions and the rich past of Debrecen teach us that literature, classical and folk music, theater, film and dance, fine arts and architecture are activities that create lasting value, the significance of which we must continuously raise awareness of, on every holiday and every weekday.” He added, “The members of the Debrecen Folk Ensemble, who are giving us a show tonight, also experience culture in this continuity, as they have been dealing with the folk dance, folk music, and folk art of the Debrecen area and Hungary every day for 75 years, as they learned from the founder, ethnographer András Béres. We pay tribute to his memory and the folk dance traditions of Debrecen with today’s show.”
László Papp believes that this diverse, yet unified culture has always shaped Hungarian thinking, this rich culture has contributed to the development of Hungarian society and the strengthening of its international competitiveness. He emphasised that this was the case during the “stormy centuries” of the “Hungarian people”, recalling Kölcsey. Still, it was also the case at the time of the writing of the Hymn, at the dawn of the Reform Era, during and after the Hungarian War of Independence. It was the case around the time of the Compromise and the historical storms of the 20th century, or in the decades that made economic and social development more possible, and it is the case today: Hungarian culture, with all its diversity, is unified and universal. “That is why all kinds of support for culture are of paramount importance to the Municipality of Debrecen. This is why large-scale cultural development has been a priority for the past five years, and thanks to this, we can now welcome each other in the beautifully renovated Csokonai Theatre on the Day of Hungarian Culture. We are convinced that investing in high culture is not simply a state or local government task, but a mission that pays off many times over. Not in material terms, but primarily in souls, in the intellectual and spiritual development of the members of our nation,” he underlined.
The city leader also talked about how only the flourishing of human culture can strengthen our community, and the diversity of culture can enable us to place Debrecen’s economic innovations, economic achievements, and infrastructural, and urban developments on a sufficiently strong intellectual foundation. “This complex urban development serving cultural needs has enabled us to renew the sanctuaries of Debrecen’s cultural life on a historic scale in recent years, including the renovation of Zenede, the reconstruction of the Csokonai Theatre, and the completion of the Csokonai Forum, the exterior renovation of the Apollo Cinema, and the renovation of many community centers. I am convinced that operating the conditions for cultural life on such a scale can significantly contribute to catalysing Debrecen’s national, regional, and international role” he emphasised.
The 2025 Day of Hungarian Culture was fundamentally held in the spirit of togetherness and community building, which is why the city was present not only in Debrecen but also beyond the border. On January 22, the audience in Oradea could hear a concert by the Kodály Philharmonic Orchestra.
Source and photo credit:debrecen.hu
