This year’s Sziget Festival will take place from 7 to 12 August. Among the headliners announced on Wednesday is American singer Halsey, who has already received three Billboard Music Awards, an American Music Award, and has been nominated for a Grammy three times. The superstar is preparing for a new album release this year.
Among other programmes, between 20 and 23 February the museum’s historians will hold presentations for secondary school students interested in history. During these sessions, students will be able to learn about the Sovietization in the Hungarian countryside after 1945, Communist propaganda posters, and the terror of the ÁVO (the State Protection Authority) between 1945 and 1956.
The MCC University Programme is unique in Europe, offering small-group, personalized training covering multiple disciplines, complementing traditional higher education in Hungary. Many young people participating in the programme enrol in MCC training already in primary school, becoming part of a cohesive community.
More and more members of the younger generation are visiting the historical cemeteries in Budapest, showing increasing interest in the nation’s past.
The Hungarian Olympic Committee hopes that through educators participating in the training, thousands of students will become familiar with Olympic values such as excellence, respect, and friendship, and eventually become active supporters of the Olympic movement by following the same set of values.
Balázs Hankó underscored Hungary’s strides in scientific and educational excellence, noting that 12 Hungarian universities now rank among the top five per cent globally. He outlined ambitious goals, aiming for one Hungarian university to enter the world’s top 100 by 2030, with three making it into the top 100 institutions in the European Union.
The European Festival Awards serve as a platform to acknowledge and celebrate the outstanding contributions of festivals across Europe. From showcasing remarkable performances to fostering community engagement and promoting cultural diversity, these awards recognize the festivals that go above and beyond in creating memorable experiences for attendees.
The Roman Catholic Church’s charity organization, Caritas Hungary has provided some four million forints in aid to the families affected by a tragic boarding school accident in Székelyudvarhely (Odorheiu Secuisesc) in Transylvania. Caritas has also launched a donation drive to further help the victims of the accident.
‘Based on early ticket sales, we can see a tremendous interest in the 2024 festival. Next year, Sziget will once again host major global stars,
top performers of the day, and freshly discovered, contemporary musical gems,’ Tamás Kádár, the main organizer wrote in a statement.
Most universities grant additional points to applicants for language exams, advanced level exams, sports achievements, and results in academic competitions. However, in the new system, institutions are now able to award extra points for other achievements like work experience, prior qualifications, volunteer work, or the completion of preparatory courses, based on their individual decisions.
Viktor Orbán declared that Hungary’s energy supply is a key issue and noted that it is important for Hungary to be able to receive oil not only from Russia but also from Kazakhstan. He added that the volume of this is not significant yet, but the channels have been opened, and this is a significant step for the country’s security.
Programme participants can choose from e-learning courses that run for four or eight weeks, covering subjects like modern history, economics, psychology, law, literature, and international relations. There is also a Hungarian and English language writing skills development course. The programme’s goal is to educate and nurture secondary school students for the long term.
In addition to popular and spectacular chemistry experiments and anatomical tours, for the first time, a rescue helicopter will also be featured among the attractions, landing in front of Debrecen University’s central building. There, organizers will demonstrate the rescue process and emergency care to the interested visitors. Work with therapy dogs will also be showcased in Hajdúszoboszló and Debrecen.
At the opening of the academic year of the University of Public Service, Balázs Orbán highlighted the importance of the state gaining the trust of its citizens and foreign partners, and its task to facilitate the building of relationships in the fields of economy and culture.
At the Central European Olympiad in Informatics held in Germany István Ádám Molnár from the Földes Ferenc Secondary School in Miskolc and Bernát Tarján from the Veres Péter Secondary School in Budapest earned silver medals.
Tamás Kádár proudly announced that the total attendance of Sziget this year was estimated at over 420,000. He added that although it is less than last year, the company cannot complain.
Under the patronage of the International Geographical Union, the English-language competition, held for the 19th time, saw participation from 52 countries and 200 students. Four Hungarian secondary school students from Budapest performed outstandingly and were awarded four medals.
The Sziget Festival will last six days, until 15 August, on the Óbuda Island in Budapest. Performers from sixty-two countries will arrive at approximately forty venues, and the audience will come from over a hundred countries.
Spread across 76 hectares, this year’s festival was set up in three weeks. The maximum daily capacity is 90,000 people, including both festival staff and attendees, making Sziget the country’s tenth largest city for the six days of the festival. The main stage was constructed in ten days, with a floor area of over a thousand square metres and a six hundred square metre LED wall serving as its backdrop.
More than a hundred 12- to 16-year-old students and adult volunteers from the Zaporizhzhia region were hosted by the Körmend Law Enforcement Technical Institute last week. The Ukrainian guests ‘took part in unforgettable programmes,’ the school shared on their social media page.
‘There are few Hungarian brands in the entertainment industry like the Sziget Festival, and we will forever be grateful to its founders for creating it. We are planning a grand celebration this year, which also signifies the beginning of a new era for us: we not only want to preserve the legacy of the past 30 years but also lay the foundation for the next 30,’ Tamás Kádár stated at a press conference in May.
Deputy State Secretary for Higher Education at the Ministry of Cultural Affairs and Innovation Veronika Varga-Bajusz talked about the challenges of preserving the identity of Hungarians beyond the border. She stressed the importance of creating opportunities for young Hungarians to study and work in their homeland, as it serves the development and strengthening of the Carpathian Basin. She stated that as long as there are knowledge-seeking Hungarian youths, there is a Hungarian future.
From 15–21 July, students from 52 countries around the world participated in the EGOI held in Lund, Sweden. Similar to other informatics Olympiads such as CEOI and IOI, the contestants had to solve programming tasks—and the Hungarian team did an excellent job!
Following their successful performance at the European Championship, Hungarian students also proved themselves at the RoboCup Junior world championship held in Bordeaux, France.
The goal of the MCC Plus programme is to make the unique talent development programmes of the Mathias Corvinus Collegium available to a wide range of individuals. It allows talented students who cannot take advantage of the residential dormitory option due to their university and other commitments, but have performed exceptionally well in the entrance exam, access to MCC’s training programmes.
Hungarian students boast outstanding achievements at the top universities of the world. Hungarian Conservative spoke to talent grooming institutions Stipendium Peregrinum and Milestone Institute about how they help talented young Hungarians.
Hungarian Conservative is a quarterly magazine on contemporary political, philosophical and cultural issues from a conservative perspective.