Veszprém-Balaton European Capital of Culture Project

The organizers of the Veszprém-Balaton European Capital of Culture project will be making film picnics, light and classical music programs, contemporary dance and literary events from mid-August, the program commissioner, Tibor Navracsics announced in Veszprém on Monday.

Tibor Navracsics added that many events had been planned in preparation for this year's tourist season, but due to the coronavirus epidemic, they will only have the opportunity to run their programs from mid-August. Their first event this year will be the ten-year-old Rosé, Riesling and Jazz Days series on August 16-23.

Although the traditional VeszprémFest is canceled for this year, the free program created as an accompanying event of the festival will be held with the participation of winemakers and Hungarian jazz musicians from the Balaton area, he emphasized.

This will be followed by the Veszprém Street Music Festival on August 26-29 when young Hungarian bands perform in the afternoon, and in the evening, street musicians from all over Europe and the world play on the downtown stages.

The European Cultural Capital program will also appear as a sponsor of the 6th Auer Lipót International Music Festival on August 13-16, which, according to the government commissioner, has grown into one of the most significant classical music festivals in Hungary in recent years.

Tibor Navracsics called it important that the events should not only be limited to Veszprém, but the entire Balaton region could also be a part and beneficiary of this European title. On August 27-29, in addition to Kővágóörs, this year's Kőfeszt will be held in six other villages in the Káli Basin, and the programs of the all-arts festival will focus on folklore and light music.

Other programs include the Veszprém-Balaton Filmpiknik – which the government commissioner called one of the first significant steps in community building – held on September 3-5 in Veszprém and Balatonfüred; the Dance Festival on September 6-10 expanding with more foreign performers into a regional or even pan-European event; and others.