A week-long series of programs ended on the August 20 holiday in Debrecen. This year again, the Flower Carnival served with free large-scale concerts on Kossuth Square, a craft beer garden, a children’s festival, BOTANICA Expo and city-wide program dumping in the spirit of cultural and international diversity.
The most beautiful program certainly proved to be the “Flower of the Worlds”, where the members of the Hungarian and foreign art groups jointly planted a Debrecen park with the Szőreg rose. The cutest sign came together with the running bike competition, where 3-5 year old children competed on the Vidámpark track. the largest number of visitors can be said for the concerts in Kossuth Square, where crowds filled the largest square in the city center every night. The hottest program was the Beer by Lake craft beer garden, where 50 Hungarian beer houses and food trucks served the visitors, while, among others, Róbert Winkler and the BrewStudio provided excitement to the audience in front of the podium, and 7,000 people saw the concert of the Kerekes Band mixed with contemporary dance dreamed up by the Hortobágy National Park on the shore of the lake, surrounded by oak trees.
“We were very satisfied with this year’s Flower Carnival in Debrecen because we managed to fill the city with life again. From the youngest to the retired, from high school students to university students and families, we have provided programs for everyone throughout the city, and the vast majority of events are free of charge. We can thank all of this to our partners and the cooperating cultural institutions who joined us with their creative events,”
– said Réka Mészáros, managing director of Főnix Rendezvényszerzégo Kft., responsible for the Debrecen Flower Carnival.
It has been 57 years since the public of Debrecen celebrated with a huge parade on the day of the foundation of the state. As a fitting end to the week-long program organized around the holiday, this year again 1,500 dancers and artists took part in the parade, on the route of which there were seats available for visitors in 9 grandstands – tickets for these were already sold out two weeks before the event. Through the Debrecen Charitable Board, a tribune is recommended by the supporters for those living in difficult financial circumstances and for the disadvantaged.
Half of the 12 flower carts prepared for the parade are already equipped with electric motors, the concepts of the decorative elements were dreamed up and created by the supporting partners together with the organizers and contractors, and finally they were covered with millions of live and dried flowers. Among the carts, in the spirit of sustainability, there is also a work made entirely of live flowers – the more than a thousand hydrangeas will enrich public institutions in Debrecen in addition to the premises of the company that makes the flower cart. In addition, a special, globally unique flower installation was also on display, the scent of which could also be felt in the audience, created by an internationally recognized perfumer.
Within the framework of the “Táncol a város” program, Debrecen and its surroundings filled the streets with more than 30 dance groups with productions, flash mobs and dance halls during the carnival week. 22 of the thirty groups took part in the parade, with members of all ages from 5 years old to seniors can be found and the most diverse dance styles were presented, from folk dance to samba, from modern dance to hip-hop. The Hungarian groups were enriched by 9 foreign groups from India, China, Spain, Brazil, Germany, San Marino, Austria, Croatia, Serbia with traditional and contemporary productions, large-scale costumes and captivating choreographies.
“The Debrecen Flower Carnival is the city’s flagship event, attracting more than 200,000 visitors every year. Mainly domestic guests with families come to us during this period, but more and more foreign visitors take part in the carnival frenzy. During the carnival week, the city’s accommodations are practically full, and from a tourist point of view, August is the city’s strongest month. The vision of a sustainable and green city is very important for Debrecen. It is gratifying that environmental awareness is now also appearing in the programs: this year half of the flower carnival cars were already electric cars, and the goal is that all the vehicles covered in flowers in the parade will be electric in the near future,”
– said Enikő Tóth-Megyesi, tourism director of VisitDebrecen.
A total of 220,000 visitors participated in the 2023 Debrecen Flower Carnival, 17,000 at the Galiba Children’s Festival, and 40,000 at the Beer by Lake craft beer garden.
(Főnix Rendezvényszervező Közhasznú Nonprofit Kft.)
