Local services
For the fourth time, the “Great Forest Week” will take place between the 9th and the 15th of October, presenting Hungary’s most beautiful forest, the Great Forest of Debrecen. The organisers announced the programmes at a press conference in the Sziget Blue Theme Park on the 5th of October, 2023.
The event is organised by the Great Forest Society, the Debrecen Value Centre Committee, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Hungarian National Rural Network, Future of Debrecen and several partners. János Mazsu, President of the Nagyerdő Society and the Debrecen Valuables Committee, described the Great Forest Week in three words: invasive, symbiotic, and natural beauty.
Invasive, he said, because today there are more than twenty active organisers, participants and supporters working to make the Great Forest Week a success. Symbiotic because the city and the Great Forest have lived together for centuries, a partnership that includes culture, conservation and healthy living. This unique, highly complex coexistence has led to many programmes and natural beauty because the Great Forest has been officially declared the most beautiful forest in Hungary.
According to Deputy Mayor of Debrecen István Puskás, the most valuable moment of the Big Forest Week, beyond the celebrated Big Forest itself, is the way in which the week is created. “For four years, a story has been building in which more and more people stand up for a value important to our community. More than twenty partners work together throughout the week, and this community of partners continues to grow,” he said. In his speech, the deputy mayor invited the people of Debrecen to a community stand. He asked the citizens of the city to wear green on Tuesday 10th October, the Great Forest Day, and to show it on social media, signalling that they are celebrating the Great Forest.
Ákos Balázs, Deputy Mayor of Debrecen, recalled that the Great Forest (Nagyerdő) was registered in 1939 with serial number 1 in the Register of Conservation Values – Debrecen has a tradition of nature conservation. The knowledge that we have in the field of nature conservation is our duty to pass it on, to nurture it and to take as many initiatives as possible to raise awareness of its importance, he stressed.
He added that the Future of Debrecen movement was launched almost four years ago with the Green Task Force. He pointed out that they have a number of programmes to raise awareness of the importance of nature conservation, and next week, we will be able to meet some of them. Nature of Debrecen will lead several guided walks, and kindergartners will be shown the bird habitat park, but there will also be recreational activities, a forest magic tour and a green cinema.
Judit Erzsébet Kiss, the manager of the Sziget-kék Theme Park, said that the second year of the Great Forest Week family day is proof that culture and nature can work together very well on the Sziget-kék. Among the programmes, she highlighted the Vojtina Puppet Theatre’s stilt performance, the Debrecen Folk Ensemble’s dance house and the Rocksuli acoustic picnic. As she said, for the first time this year, but with the intention of creating a tradition, a farmers’ market is also waiting for the participants. Finally,she called for a drawing competition for children, asking them to draw a picture of what the Great Forest means to them.
The Great Forest Week programmes can be browsed by clicking on the link (full list in Hungarian); list in English is here.
Source: debrecen.hu | Photo credit: Facebook (Debrecen városa)
