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The central ceremony will be held in Parliament on Friday, attended by Hungary’s highest state officials and foreign guests.
Events begin Thursday with a wreath-laying at the heroes’ monument at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics, where Social Relations and Culture Minister Zoltán Tarr will speak.
The traditional torchlight procession will follow, heading from the university to József Bem Square. Prime Minister Péter Magyar will address a ceremonial wreath-laying there.
On Thursday evening, the flame of the revolution will be lit in Imre Nagy Square, attended by Magyar and parliamentary Speaker Ágnes Forsthoffer.
The Hungarian National Museum will also open an anniversary exhibition Thursday titled “Children of ’56 – Drawings from an Innsbruck Student Home.”
The national holiday program begins Friday at 9 a.m. with a ceremonial flag-raising attended by President András Baka, Forsthoffer, Magyar and foreign guests.
The commemoration in Parliament starts at 2 p.m. Magyar will subsequently deliver a speech in Kossuth Lajos Square outside the building.
Budapest’s municipal council and the Budapest Cultural Center will hold an evening commemoration titled “By the Light of Our Revolution,” featuring light projections in City Hall Park. The event will begin at the symbolic time of 7:56 p.m.
Opposition party Fidesz will hold its Friday commemoration in Bem Square, with speeches by former President János Áder, historian Mária Schmidt and parliamentary group leader János Bóka.
The Christian Democratic People’s Party (KDNP) will hold a wreath-laying Thursday in Tata, addressed by its parliamentary group leader, Bence Rétvár. The Our Homeland Movement will commemorate the anniversary at Budapest’s Corvin Passage.
Hungarian diplomatic missions are organizing ceremonies, wreath-layings, receptions and cultural programs around the world.
Events in the United States will include ceremonies, wreath-layings and light projections in Washington and New York. In Canada, Niagara Falls and Toronto’s CN Tower will be illuminated in Hungary’s national colors.
Special illumination is also planned for the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, the TV tower in Brasília, Istanbul’s Bosphorus Bridge and sites in Prague.
Among neighboring countries, Slovakia and Romania will host conferences. Croatia will project the 1956 revolutionary flag onto a fountain in Zagreb, while Vienna’s St. Stephen’s Cathedral will receive festive illumination.
The Hungarian flag will be projected onto a tower block in Belgrade. Slovenia will mark the anniversary with a concert, while Ukraine is preparing a Ferenc Liszt memorial concert.
Public television channel M1 will provide coverage throughout Oct. 23, including live broadcasts of the flag-raising, the parliamentary ceremony and Magyar’s speech.
Fidesz and Our Homeland commemorations will be streamed on M1’s YouTube channel, while KDNP’s Thursday event will also be broadcast. Budapest’s evening commemoration will be available on M1’s Facebook page.
The festive gala at the Hungarian State Opera, beginning at 6 p.m. Friday, will be broadcast live on M1 and Duna and streamed on both broadcasters’ Facebook pages.
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