It is possible to calculate that since 1979 there has hardly been a year when the city did not hold one of its most prominent events, the Bicskei Days, Mayor Istvánné Bálint said in her ceremonial opening at the Petőfi Cultural Center. The greeting was a trip back in time, partly by recalling the events of the first years, more precisely the names of the directors at that time – even from before the regime change, from the days of the party state! Today we can confidently say that the event of the Bicske Days and the spiritual and spiritual attitude of the city of Bicske took place in those years with a non-political and patriotic, even strongly local-patriotic identification, as it has been ever since. József Takács, director of the cultural center, read out the list of names to whom the four-decade success story is most closely associated, many of whom are no longer alive. The commemorative gifts of the leaders and organizers who have since left were received by their children and relatives, deserving of this respectful “spirit summoning”. Thank God, many of them were present themselves, with gray heads, as retirees who, after several years, passed the baton to the next ones. The late director of the cultural center Antal Véssey and his successors, directors Ágnes Mohanié Fejes and Erzsébet Nagyné Szita, set the bar high and organized many special and mainly local programs with their fellow contributors. Nationally known artists were always invited to the Bicske Days, who considered it an honor, as the event gave local artists a premium introduction opportunity. Exhibitions, exhibitions, sports events, presentations, concerts and community events were mentioned for a long time and widely discussed.
Photo: Melinda Zzohár
The award for the City of Bicske is given to a few people every year on famous holidays, this time Ágnes Somos received the award from Mayor István Bálint. The retired high school teacher also taught Hungarian and German at his only place of employment, the Vajda János High School, for forty years, and as a teacher he undertook to support disadvantaged students for several years. At the anniversary opening, representatives of the sister settlements of the city of Bicske appeared in addition to guests from the city and the county from Altshausen, Tusnádfürdő, Subcarpathia. A special cultural gem was offered with the concert of Katalin Kokas, the Franz Liszt Prize winner, and her husband, Kelemen Barnabás Kossuth and Ferenc Liszt Prize winning violinists, to highlight the opening. We learned an interesting addition to their performance from the wife of the present mayor of Lendvajakabfa, Éva Egri, who grew up in Bicské, and her son, Csörsz Egri. The artist couple Kokas-Kelemen, who have four children, are planning a cultural mission in the village of less than half a hundred souls near the Trianon border, and this time the spiritual and real connection was intertwined through the violinists, the Bicskei Days and the mayor of Zala. The couple came to the city with their children, and they were also kindly invited to the family- and child-friendly Bicske Days.
Photo: Melinda Zzohár
The series of events in Bicske already started on Monday, as there would not have been enough time until the weekend, which the program series offers. In the Bicske Szíve Park, the library, the Youth House, the BTC sports field, and the open-air stage, events inviting different age groups follow one after the other, from the cooking competition, the handicraft exhibition, to matches and concerts. The local entrepreneurs generously supported the Bicske Days financially, and thanked them by name at the opening ceremony.
