Miskolc, the City of Festivals
Krisztina Koncz GF73ME Business Areas: Tourism Teacher: Mรกria Adorjรกn 14 Dec, 2012
Table of Contents
I.
About Miskolc ………………………………………………………………….. 3
II.
The Miskolc International Opera Festival ………………………….. 4
III.
The Jameson Cinefest Miskolc International Filmfestival ….. 5
IV.
The Miskolc Winter Festival – Jelly Festival ………………………. 6
V.
The Impact of the Festivals ………………………………………………. 8
VI.
References ………………………………………………………………………. 9
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I.
About Miskolc Miskolc is the largest city of North-Eastern Hungary and the capital of Borsod-
Abaúj-Zemplén county. It is also the third largest city in Hungary concerning its population (right after Budapest and Debrecen). In the socialist times the city was known as one of the most important centers of industry, the so-called ”city of steel”. However, after the regime change, Miskolc gradually lost its title and now it concentrates much more on making its cultural and touristic sights more popular. Although the region is not so well-known yet (most tourists from abroad usually visit Budapest and maybe the Balaton-region), it has several sights that worth visiting. Its historic sites include the Castle of Diósgyőr (built in the 14th century), the city center (with its buildings built in romantic and neo-classic style, the famous theatre, and the Szinva-terrace), the different historic churches (Miskolc is also known as the ”city of churches), and the Palace Hotel (where the famous Hungarian movie, the Fairy Tale Auto –Meseautó- was shot). The city also has stunning natural sites: the Bükk National Park, Lillafüred with its waterfall and picturesque surroundings, and the famous cave-bath (the only one in Central Europe).
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The city recently developed several social sites, the most important ones are the international festivals: the Opera Festival, the Jameson Cinefest Miskolc International Filmfestival and the Miskolc Winter Festival-Jelly Festival. In this report I will concentrate on these festivals as they dramatically increased tourism in the region and enhanced the cultural aspect of the city itself.
II.
The Miskolc International Opera Festival
„The Opera Festival was founded in 2000 with the goal to connect Miskolc and the region to the international circulation of music life.” 1 The festival is primarily dedicated to the famous Hungarian composer, Béla Bartók, and the preservation of his works. Every year, the Opera festival has a different theme: it is always Bartók and some other famous composer or musical era. In 2012, it was Bartók + Puccini. In the last twelve years the festival has become one of the most prestigous opera festivals in Europe. 2 Many foreign theater companies and famous opera artists take part in the different performances. The 1
http://miskolc.hu/sites/default/files/dokumentumok/csatolmanyok/miskolc_on_2012_ang.pdf http://www.operafesztival.hu/index.php? option=com_content&view=article&id=442%3Afesztivaltoertenet&catid=42%3Aaprodukcio&Itemid=82&lang=hu 2
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main location is the Miskolc National Theater but there are several other programs, for example in the Orthodox church of Miskolc or even open-air performances.
During the time of the festival, the city center is decorated and there are fairs and openair concerts. The festival also has a slogan: ”Music can build a city!”, which also shows how important it is for Miskolc to emphasize its cultural resources.
III.
The Jameson Cinefest Miskolc International Filmfestival
The Cinefest Filmfestival has become one of the best 16 artistic festivals of Hungary and also received the title of ”Excellent Arts Festival”. Taking place every year in the second
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half of September, the festival aims to give the opportunity of publicity for young filmmakers.3
Every year the festival receives about 500-600 films from which a pre-jury chooses 60 to play during the festival. The audience can whatch these movies, which are also premiere ones, free of charge. These films also compete in the Berlin, Cannes and Venice Film Festivals in the same year. 4 The related events include concerts, workshops, artistaudience meetings and film-historical presentations. The central location is the House of Arts and its square front of the building. The festival attracts mainly young people from the town as well as from other parts of the country and from abroad.
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http://www.cinefest.hu/hu/fesztivalrol.html http://miskolc.hu/sites/default/files/dokumentumok/csatolmanyok/miskolc_on_2012_ang.pdf
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IV.
The Miskolc Winter Festival- Jelly Festival
One of the very few festivals at winter in Hungary, the basic aim of the Jelly Festival is to attract visitors from in- and outside of Hungary to enjoy the gastronomic and cultural aspects of the region.5 The festival is built on a local legend: sometime in the 19th century a frog jumped into the jelly in a restaurant and the waiter did not recognize the accident and served the jelly with the frog in it to the guests.
Several postcards and sayings saved this legend (”Pislog, mint a miskolci kocsonya”Someone winks, like the jelly of Miskolc, ”Pislog, mint a miskolci kocsonyában a béka”Winks like the frog in the jelly at Miskolc). As a result, the frog became the central symbol of the festival. Visitors can buy postcards with frogs, frog-hats, stuffed plush frogs, etc. The festival includes concerts, a street market and fair, gastronomic joys, marches in contemporary customs, etc.
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http://www.kocsonyafesztival.hu/a-fesztival-tortenete/
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All these programs attract huge number of visitors and local people to the festival, in spite of the cold weather. Probably this is the most popular festival of the town.
V.
The Impact of the Festivals
As Miskolc lies in an area heavily hit by the recession, it is crucial for the city to develop its economy. Tourism offers a great opportunity for this aim. The city tries to emphasize its cultural aspects with all these festivals and attract as many visitors as possible. I think that this is a great concept and the city was quite successful in this respect. There are also other festivals, such as the Castle Festivals, the Rocktoberfest, and the Beer Festival, organized for the first time this year. Although the Beer Festival was a huge success (almost 70 000 visitors in 4 days), the littering and damage in public property was also problems at the festival.6 However, we can say that in a town of 170 000 people, this festival was incredibly successful. All in all, Miskolc is headed in a good direction: after its industrial fall now it concentrates much more on its turistic and cultural sites and tries to
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http://www.civilera.hu/2012/09/sorfesztival-mellekhatas/#more-1835
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develop the region in this respect. I especially like the new homepage of the city 7 and that it also contains a very good advertising material about Miskolc for foreign visitors in English.8 Hopefully, the city can become a cultural center of Hungary in the near future.
References
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http://miskolc.hu/sites/default/files/dokumentumok/csatolmanyok/miskolc_on_ 2012_ang.pdf
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http://miskolc.hu/
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http://www.operafesztival.hu/
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http://www.kocsonyafesztival.hu/
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http://www.cinefest.hu/hu/
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http://www.civilera.hu/2012/09/sorfesztival-mellekhatas/#more-1835
http://miskolc.hu/ http://miskolc.hu/sites/default/files/dokumentumok/csatolmanyok/miskolc_on_2012_ang.pdf
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