Grand Opening

The opening event is the jewel in the crown of every European Capitals of Culture programme. In keeping with the decades-long tradition that goes with the title, all ECOC cities kick the year off with a grand opening ceremony. 

We will keep to this tradition. On the morning of 21 January, events leading up to the formal opening ceremony will begin in many venues. Veszprém's cultural institutions will open the doors to exhibitions and offer special guided tours through the weekend. Colourful programmes and concerts will await the guests from Veszprém, the region, the country and Europe at the various gastronomic and community venues. 

The event’s highlight will be a grand and comprehensive art show in the city's squares entitled “Shine Veszprém!” The nearly one-hour production will consist of successive and interlinked musical performances, dance productions, music, light paintings, large-scale building projections and other impressive spectacles. The narration on Veszprém's past and present will be magical, fabulous, sometimes dreamlike, sometimes grotesque, and humorous, celebrating the city - it will be a kind of "urban fantasy". The large-scale show, expected to attract tens of thousands of people, will close with a street party lasting into the night. 

János Can Togay, a film director, scriptwriter, and the chief artistic-creative advisor of the VEB2023 ECoC, dreamed up the concept and script of the show. The musical, dance, theatrical and other audio-visual elements of the performance are composed by internationally renowned contemporary artists and creators such as the Burn-out Bulbs Visual Arts Company; Yvett Bozsik, a Kossuth Prize-winning ballet dancer, choreographer, and a member of the Company of Immortals; Attila Pacsay, Oscar-nominee composer; Marcell Iványi, Palme d'Or-winning film director and producer; Zoltán Zsuráfszky Jr., Junior Prima Primissima Award winner, Gyula Harangozó, award winner dancer and choreographer. 

The Oscar-nominee producer and film director, Géza M. Tóth, designed the official opening ceremony, which will be hosted by Hangvilla Multicultural Community Space (Hangvilla Multikulturális Közösségi Tér). It will be attended by local and national guests, as well as leading figures from the cultural scene of European countries.  

The celebrations, however, will not end here. As 22 January is the Day of Hungarian Culture, Veszprém will be hosting a wide range of events: theatre premieres, youth performances, a joint Hymn recital, and a bit of science on the topic of the national anthem. 

On the occasion of the bicentenary, we intend to explore the literary and musical history of the Hymn at an event in the University of Pannonia's auditorium. The backbone of the programme will be a moderated discussion between writer and literary historian Krisztián Nyáry, author of a book on the subject, and music historian Ádám Bősze, complemented by musical interludes by the Mendelssohn Chamber Orchestra. The programme will present the exciting and interesting aspects of the text and music of Himnusz, its genesis and evolution, in a unique, elegant, and clear format.  

Other events of the Hungarian Culture Day include the premiere of the Hungarian folk tale ‘The Stone that Fell from the Sky’ by the Kabóca Puppet Theatre, a reading premiere of a play by János Háy at the Pannon Castle Theatre, the premiere of ‘The Feast of Adam and Eve’ at the Petőfi Theatre and the premiere of ‘A helység kalapácsa’, a humorous epic poem by Sándor Petőfi performed by the Forte Company.