Commemorations on the National Day of August 20th

August 20th in is a national holiday in Hungary as the Day of King Stephen, the founder of the Hungarian state.

The Hungarian flag was raised on Kossuth Square in front of Parliament to the tune of the National Anthem by the ceremonial guard of the Hungarian Defense Forces this Thursday morning to start commemorations on the national holiday. The event featured the central military orchestra and the national ceremonial mounted unit in the presence of state leaders, representatives of the government, representatives of state and military organisations and the diplomatic corps, and hundreds of spectators.

The President of the Republic, János Áder pointed out at the ceremony that "on the holiday of the founding of our state, we rightly feel that the history of the Hungarians, the last more than a thousand years - like a cathedral reaching to the sky - is both fascinating and difficult to get over it. Legislative rulers, destiny-determining battles, self-sacrificing heroes, valiant victories and tragic losses shaped it."

This year, due to the coronavirus, most of the traditional programs, including the air display, the fireworks display and the Holy Right Hand procession have been cancelled.