Whether or not the traditional 20 August celebratory fireworks could be held this year or not was up in the air even just a few hours before the scheduled start time of 9 p.m. Some meteorological data indicated a storm for the evening, so a special task force gathered to assess on an hour-by-hour basis whether or not the spectacle could be safely held.
In 2022 the fireworks were called off due to a projected storm, which, however, never came. Thus, learning from the precedent, meteorologists were given more time to make their final call on the matter.
So, this year, the fireworks could be held after all—with an hour delay, however, since around 8:30 p.m. a brief summer storm with some thunder and lightning did ascend on Budapest.
The fireworks, drone, and laser show deployed over 45,000 individual pyrotechnical effects;
as well as 1,300 drones. Projectiles were launched in the air from a five-kilometre-long (3.1 miles) area along the Danube River.
The stunning display featured music, audio narration, and the recital of poems, as well unique lighting schemes projected onto some of Budapest’s most famous landmarks, the Széchenyi Chain Bridge and the Budapest Parliament Building.
Those who missed out on the wonderful spectacle can watch the Hungarian public media’s broadcast of the holiday fireworks below:
Other Festivities on 20 August
The holiday programme started with the celebratory raising of the national flag in front of the Parliament Building. President Tamás Sulyok was present at the ceremony, as well as a ceremonial guard of the Hungarian Defence Forces. Minister of Defence Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky gave a speech at the event. In it, he emphasized the Hungarians’ desire to achieve peace. Thus, this generation also has the opportunity to pay their due in defence of their country, the minister stated. He went on to say that ‘we are an ancient military nation in our own Hungarian way’, and added that the country’s defence capabilities are being strengthened day by day.
After the festivities in front of the Parliament,
Nobel laureate Ferenc Krausz, who received his Nobel Prize in Physics last year, was awarded the Hungarian Order of Saint Stephen,
the highest state honour bestowed by the President of Hungary at the Sándor Palace, the presidential residence in Hungary. ‘His success is world-renowned, which lifts up Hungarians as a whole,’ President Sulyok said of the great scientist.
Hungarians also celebrate the Day of the New Bread, the end of the grain harvest on 20 August. Therefore, miscellaneous culinary programmes took place in Budapest and across the country for the whole long weekend.
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