Agora Roots Festival

In the past, Agora has organised several celebrations for each nationality where visitors could meet and learn about the nationalities that play a serious role in forming Veszprém’s identity. This time, however, we are planning a big, collective affair. The individual nationalities will not appear alone but together in one event. They will get acquainted with each other and present their values to the crowds. Through personal experiences, we will appreciate the importance and riches of a small community and how it can preserve its culture and traditions within the majority culture. Another virtue of the programme is that it creates a culture of coexistence. It proves that majority and minority cultures can go beyond living merely side by side and attain cultural success by interpenetrating and enhancing each other's values.

Our partners in this project are the Ukrainian, Armenian, Polish and German nationality self-governments of Veszprém. Yet another improvement over the past is that we now work with their national organisations. Having foreign artists in the festival programme is an added innovation compared to previous similar events.

There is a strong focus on gastronomic traditions. Food is the key that, perhaps, most easily opens the door to the cultural values of another nationality. The festival will involve restaurateurs so participants can not only discover, taste or take food home that day but maybe enjoy national dishes even once the festival is over.