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The Farmer Expo in Debrecen is one of Hungary’s leading international agricultural and food trade fairs, fist organized in 1993 at the Agricultural Science Center of the University of Debrecen. It provides the widest and most effective opportunities for the agro-industry to establish contacts, deepen relations, and learn new trends. 

Although a business event it also considers the needs of families and is programmed accordingly, for instance, the show of the smallest and largest horse in the country.

In 2019 about 300 exhibitors and 30,000 visitors visited Eastern Hungary’s largest agricultural and food trade fair and the organizers expect similar numbers of visitors this year too.

As we all exit COVID-19 lockdown, understandably we all want to escape the confines of our homes, the question is how to do this responsibly.  In addition, now that we are used to the quiet, and slower pace, it is perhaps wise not to take on too much, too soon. 

The 20th August is the national and state holiday of Hungary and the anniversary of the consecration of Stephen I of Hungary. In Debrecen, however, it is also the day of the Flower Carnival. It is a real attraction, drawing in visitors from across the country and internationally ever since it was first organised in 1966.

According to historians, the following two events are the predecessor of today’s flower carnival:

In August 1900, the board of the Debrecen Civil Cycling Association held a meeting and decided to hold a national cycling competition later that same year in September to raise awareness of the association’s new track.  The highlight of the event and competition was a “large-scale flower corset, which they want to create with a lot of taste and splendor”. 

On the last weekend in May – a three-day-long holiday including Whit Monday – children will be in the spotlight at the Debrecen Zoo and Amusement Park, turning 60 this May, with awesome activities and many new attractions – all in keeping with current public health regulations and the institution’s extra precautionary measures.

On Children’s Day proper, May 31, there will be hourly tours on the institution’s Donkey Carriage, now complemented with music, puppeteers, and stilt walkers from Vojtina Puppet Theatre, who will also perform a puppet show (in Hungarian) both in the morning and afternoon. In addition, local hobbyists will introduce visitors to the secrets of car modeling.

The Treaty of Trianon was signed in the Grand Trianon Palace in Versailles on June 4th, 1920 and as the result of it, not only was a significant part of Hungary was annexed but also universities and more than sixty of the museums “moved” outside the country, in an instant, together with their invaluable art treasures.

The period between June 4, 1920 and May 25, 1930 was key in the cultural life of Debrecen. It was a time when the whole country was paralyzed by the loss caused by the Treaty of Trianon.  It was during this period of cultural instability that the leadership of Debrecen decided to build an educational and a cultural institution: Tisza István University and Déri Museum. 

Frigyes Déri, ​​a manufacturer and art collector, chose Debrecen as the location of the museum presenting his collection; he donated his significant collection to the museum in 1920. His support not only covered the donation of his collection but he also allocated a significant amount for the construction.

The Old Town Hall (Régi Városháza) building is one of the most characteristic of the classicist architecture in Debrecen today.  The site was originally bought by the city in 1531 from Judge András Tar and the first Town Hall was built upon it.

The building became one of the most important places in the city, a place where the top magistrates and the Chief Justice decided about matters of life and death. Regardless of the activities taking place there, the town hall and its operation have been characterized by frugality for centuries.

Even though the city was wealthy thanks to the income from trade and agriculture, the town hall and its operation were characterized by frugality for centuries and little was spent on “ordinary” (city-owned) houses and modernization, that is, up until the 19th century. 

Panel blocks and panel apartments have quite a history in Hungary, and it tends to be a love/hate relationship.  Most panel blocks were constructed during the reconstruction efforts after the second world war (1950’s and 1960’s.)

Hungary has nearly 788 thousand flats in panel buildings, one-fifth of the population live in them, including most of the population of Debrecen.

The panel blocks in Hungary and in particular Debrecen are lovingly cared for despite their limitations and problems, they are known for their durability, and have a better build quality than most in Europe.  In addition, they were well situated among parks with trees with private play areas for children.

As soon as the COVID-19 situation improves, the new bath named “Aquaticum Debrecen Strand” will start receiving guests, according to Iván Aurél, the local government’s press chief.

In the summer of 2015, a design contest for the reconstruction of the Debrecen Public Bath was announced. The winner, Bord Architectural Studio came up with a design that disrupts our current imagination about baths and transformed the city’s old public bath to a modern recreation center. 

The County Hall of Hajdú-Bihar County is located in Debrecen, at number 54 Piac Street. It is considered one of the most beautiful Hungarian Art Nouveau buildings. 

The first guesthouse of Debrecen, Fejérló Szálló once stood on the plot and it had many famous guests since its opening in 1688), including Joseph II, the Holy Roman Emperor in 1770. The hotel was also famous for its performances that were held in the courtyard. The Miklós Wesselényi National Theater gave its first official performance in Hungarian here on 11th August 1798. After Cluj-Napoca, the theater piece “Hamlet” was played here in Hungarian. The fire of 1811 ended the performances. 

Over the weekend, the entire forest including the Lake Békás, and even the largest playground in the city known as “Ötholdas Pagony” were re-opened. 

Caution is still prescribed, including the use of social distancing, hand washing, and face masks in enclosed spaces.  Even so, it’s great to see things returning to some semblance of normality.  

The Great Forest is not only the “breathing heart of Debrecen” but the nation’s first conservation area and the part of the Natura 2000 network. Only a ten-minute ride from downtown, the park always offers peace and quiet in the shade of hundred-year-old trees as well as providing countless entertainment options.

Victory day on May 9th marks the end of the Second World war in Europe and the German surrender late on the evening of May 8th, 1945. 

The war came to Debrecen between 6th October and 29th October in what is known as the Battle of Debrecen.  It was in actual fact a period of ongoing clashes between the two sides.

Debrecen became a strategic objective in the final months of 1944 after German’s prior allies Romania and Bulgaria switched sides, declaring war on Germany and its Hungarian allies.  This change of sides was re-enforced by the subsequent drive of soviet general Fedor Tolbukhin’s 3rd Ukrainian Front into Romania and by forces under Malinovsky in the 2nd Ukrainian front into Bulgaria during 10th-12th September 1944.

In mid-February 1952, MAFILM began filming a feature film about Erkel’s life and his visit to Debrecen.  The recordings made during the filming can be viewed on the website of the Déri Museum.

Between 18 and 21 September 1868, the 4th National Song Festival was held in Debrecen Debrecen became the center of the music world and attracted many singers and conductors for a few days. 

In such unusual times, Debrecen has prepared an unusual spring exhibition called “BELSŐ CSEND” (Inner Silence). The virtual exhibition represents local contemporary art. So as you might expect, we can primarily expect works reflecting the sign of the times. 

Some of the works are new and have not yet been featured anywhere else in national exhibitions or previous spring exhibitions.

During the virtual exhibition, 2 May – 2 June, 2020, visitors can vote for works that they would still like to see.

On one corner of Kossuth Square, the street Hatvan Utca (translates to 60 street) begins.  The street was unimaginatively named after the fact that the road provided access to 60 new plots, – thirty plots were measured on each side of the road for building new houses in the 15th century. Today, still located at the beginning of the road, on the No.1 plot is situated the church tenement house known as Bishop’s Palace.

In Hungary, a palace might not be what you might imagine.  At the beginning of the 20th century, buildings that were large and two-story houses were referred to as “palaces”, and so it is probably for this reason why the building was named as a “palace”.  The reality is that Bishop’s palace is was actually a high-end apartment building.