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The 11th St. Ladislaus Days will take place in Oradea from 19th-25th of June 2023.
“We feel that after all these years, one of the great achievements of the St. Ladislaus Days is the meeting of friends, residents and expatriates at the festival events. We provide the framework for this; through the programmes, we bring people here for a big meeting, to sit down with a glass of wine or a beer”, Gyula Zatykó, the main organiser, said.
Gyula Zatykó announced: this year, the festival will “move back” to the castle, meaning that most of the events, including the evening concerts, will take place within the medieval walls.
The structure of the festival will be as usual. Dalma Varga Korpos pointed out that popular events such as the joy-brewing, the Oradea descendants’ meeting, the St. Ladislaus Days fair and the St. Ladislaus Days parade will be held again this year, and there will be new sports events. The President of the St. Ladislaus Association stressed that the pharmaceutical company Richter Gedeon would return as a partner this year, and this time they will have programmes for children and adults.
The Petőfi Cultural Agency will be a new partner for the Petőfi 200 centenary, with meetings between writers and readers, as well as musical events and concerts.
As for the evening concerts, Charlie on Friday, the Zenevonat Superkoncert with LGT stars on Saturday, and Péter Geszti and the band Bikini on Sunday. At the same time, local bands will also have the opportunity to play, with Stevie Ker, Rius & Band and eMStreet performing in the castle.
The Hungarian Rhapsody Project’s “Levédia”, featuring the world-famous opera singer Levente Molnár as the star guest, promises to be a special musical project.
It is now a tradition that Oradea’s sister city Debrecen also joins in with its programmes, and Edit Bódor gave a taste of what they are up to this year. As she said, it is a great honour for the city to be part of the St. Ladislaus Days for almost ten years. She said: they will be present from day one, with the Kodály Philharmonic Orchestra giving a major concert at the opening gala on 19th June in the Szigliget Theatre, featuring a performance by Levente Molnár. On Thursday, 22nd June, the Debrecen Big Band and Tamás Vastag will take the audience on a jazz journey. There will be exhibitions and literary events, but the main focus will be children’s activities. The DEMKI House will offer all-day craft and traditional activities for the little ones, the puppet theatre will present a puppet show, and the Trio Consort will give an interactive concert.
APTOR, Visit Oradea, has also been a partner of St. Ladislaus Days for many years. At the press conference, Alexandru Chira congratulated the organisers on the rich programme of events and recommended the festival to all the city’s inhabitants, regardless of their mother tongue.
The Partium Christian University, meanwhile, has been present at the festival since its first year, and several joint projects have been developed over the years. This year, the focus is on the jointly organised Publicritic international poster and GIF competition, which broke all records this year, with 597 visual critiques from 314 artists from 48 countries, Zoltán Balázs pointed out, thanking the organisers of the St. Ladislaus Days for their cooperation. He announced: the awards ceremony will be held on Tuesday, 20th of June, and the works judged the best by the international jury will be displayed on the city’s streets in the form of billboards and city lights, as in previous years.
Another major art project is also set to be a real curiosity. According to Gyula Zatykó, the famous sculptor Nándor Wagner’s sculpture “Philosophical Garden” will be “brought home” to his hometown, with a replica of the sculpture made with the latest technology, using a 3D printer.
“The work, which brings together monotheistic founders of religions and philosophers, including Jesus, Gandhi and St Francis of Assisi, is a message of peace and tolerance, which is much needed in this troubled world,” the festival’s chief organiser underlined. He said the work would be displayed in the lobby of the county library.
More information is available on the website, Facebook and Instagram pages of the St. Ladislaus Days, which are constantly updated.
Source and photo credit: debrecen.hu
