The flower floats have been prepared for some time in Debrecen to crown the Debrecen Flower Carnival, which this year is being organized with the main support of CATL. The carnival procession of Hungary’s most magnificent summer festival will be made up of more than 2,000 floats.
With a 58-year tradition, the Debrecen Flower Carnival is for everyone: in short, it is the internationally renowned August parade of the city of hearts for more than half a century. It is a meeting point where, although there are many people, there is always room for everyone, and it means as much to the local communities as it does to those who come from afar. The one-day flower parade has evolved into a week-long arts and gastronomy extravaganza, thanks to the continuous building of the past decades and the ever-widening circle of supporters, and the Debrecen Flower Carnival audience can enjoy the most colorful week of the year. The increasingly floral and exciting programs are attracting visitors from all over the region and even beyond the borders of the country to the festival, which will take place from 15 to 20 August.
On the 20 August parade route, the organizers will set up 7 grandstands, all but one of which will be covered, and their modern design will provide an even more comfortable view for the spectators in the stands. The Debrecen Charity Board and the families living in difficult financial circumstances will be provided with free stands by the city and the sponsors.
In keeping with the tradition of the festival, the procession will be led by a colorful fun run and an old-timer show, with more than 10 flower floats this year, conveying the mission and the message of the partners – literally in flower. This year’s line-up will be started by the Holy Crown, CATL, Teva, Richter Gedeon, the Debrecen Vocational Training Centre, the Hungarian Post Office, BMW Group Factory Debrecen, Forum Debrecen and Cívis Basketball Club Ltd., and Oradea and Debrecen will also launch a joint float.
This year’s parade promises to be one of the most spectacular ever: the flower floats will be accompanied by 2,000 Hungarian and foreign participants, including 7 bands from Oradea and Debrecen, and 10 foreign bands: TAMBA TAYA (Spain), BALLET ÓPERA (Spain), COMPAGNIE PLANETE VAPEUR (France), BANDIERAI DEGLI UFFIZI DI FIRENZE (Italy), BAFOFIM BALLET FOLKLORICO FIESTA MEXICANA (Mexico), STELZEN ART (Germany), ENSAMBLE IBERIONI (Georgia), and BRAZIL BATALA INTERNATIONAL with more than 250 drummers. One of the most spectacular elements of the parade will be the monumental work “Dragonautes”, de la compañía francesa Planète Vapeur – The Dragon – the Forgotten World, which brings to life the realm of fairy tales, the forgotten world of children’s fantasy, in a show of unprecedented quality in Debrecen, accompanied by dancers and acrobats.
The flower floats will be on full display for one day only, on 20 August, at the Flower Float and Vintage Car Show following the carnival parade, where more American cars than ever before will amaze visitors. Renowned low rider influencer Gábor Garcia Hornyák will make the show special with his own Cadillac and as host.
The highlight of the event is the parade on 20 August, but this is preceded by a full week of carnival, with an incredibly rich program of activities, involving several institutions and civil communities in the city. Every evening, the public can party in Kossuth Square with free concerts. The series of concerts will start on 15 August with the Night of Classics with the Kodály Philharmonic Orchestra Debrecen, followed by Swing á lá Django, Irie Maffia, Bohemian Betyars, Magna cum Laude, Roby Lakatos, Attila Kökény, Gigi Radics, and others. On 20 August the audience of the Debrecen Flower Carnival will be able to celebrate with the Bagossy Brothers.
Between 17 and 20 August, the organizers are preparing a variety of light painting attractions in the city center. The Golden Bull (Aranybika) building of the Mathias Corvinus Collegium (MCC) and the tower of the Bishop’s Church will be bathed in a never-before-seen glow, while the recently opened St Stephen’s Park will be the setting for a 3D mapping visual wonder.
The night parade will return: on the last night of the Flower Carnival, artistic groups and flower floats will parade from Szent Anna Street to Kossuth Square. The parade will start at 20:00, and the LED accessories and costumes, which will be effective in the dark, as well as the special lighting in front of the stands, will make the evening procession a real spectacle. For the Night of Flowers, 2 downtown grandstands will be opened to the festival public.
From 17 to 20 August, the Galiba Children’s Festival, which this year has organized its program around the cultures and games of different nations, will be held in the usual venue of the Amusement Park. The Galiba will feature carnival dancers, Réka Farkasházi and the band Tintanyúl.
On 15 August, Beer by Lake-Nagyerdei beer garden, one of the most important beer festivals in Hungary, will be presenting its own festival-branded beer and the impressive Mystery Gang. Alongside a diverse selection of beer specialties, there will be an outdoor sports pub and the newly launched Beer by Lake beer.
Debrecen dance clubs and dance schools will present themselves to the public in a series of “Dancing in the city” events on Kossuth Square, Dósa Nádor Square and in the Fórum Debrecen shopping center. The BOTANICA EXPO will focus on sustainability between 17 and 20 August, including the 3rd International Flower Arranging Competition on 18 August at the Kölcsey Centre and the FÓRUM Debrecen shopping center.
For the first time in its history, the Night Ride, a night cycling show starting on 18 August, will set the mood for the evening ride with a concert: after the BMX World Champion Zozo Kempf and his team’s Ride Zone Show – BMX presentation, Gábor Heincz’s BIGA and his band will perform on II. János Pál Pápa Square.
At this year’s Flower Carnival, the first Career Carnival will also be held, with spectacular attractions, light shows and star performers on Dósa Nádor Square. There will also be children’s concerts (Tintanyúl, Merry Elves), mini dance groups (3-6 year olds) and nearly 500 foreign dancers and musicians. The big concerts will start early in the evening, with András Kállay-Saunders, Pál Dénes, Suncity Brass, Juli Szigeti, Márkó Gábor and Yulaysi Miranda. The whole space will be decorated with light painting, LED jugglers and mirror stilts. The BMW Group Factory Debrecen is the main partner of the Career Carnival.
Between 15 and 20 August, flower installations and flower sculptures will decorate the city with the Virágos Magyarország (Floral Hungary) campaign, courtesy of Diehl Aviation Hungary Kft., Alföldi Nyomda Zrt., MODEM and Marianna Répáczky. In front of the historical building of the Csokonai Theatre there will be a flower bench, while the MCC Debrecen offers visitors a flower photo point.
With the collaboration of the Bényi Gallery, several exciting art-focused programs will also be realized: an approximately 2*4 m community painting will be on display during the carnival week, initiated by the Free to Create Foundation, and designed by Juli Fanta, winner of last year’s competition, and which will be given its final form by the Campus Festival audience. A solo exhibition of the entries to this year’s competition will also open in the Bényi Gallery. The material of the 42nd Hungarian Press Photo Exhibition will be on display in Csapó Street, while the “best of” selection of the Budapest Illustration Festival and the exhibition of Magical Hungary will be on display in the Kölcsey Centre. Impressions – Improvisations is an exciting crossover production on Déri Square: young artists, musicians and dancers inspire each other in the embrace of easels, around which contemporary and modern dancers alternate with their choreographies and improvisations inspired by the music.
CATL, a leading international technology company, currently operates 12 factories worldwide. The company aims to be actively involved in local communities in all its locations, and in Debrecen, too, it will pay special attention to supporting community and cultural events. In this spirit, the company is a main sponsor of the Debrecen Flower Carnival, among other events. The company will have its own flower float at the iconic event, and will be present at the Career Carnival as well.
