Hungary reduces August 20 holiday budget amid cultural fund controversy

Hungary is preparing for its August 20 national holiday celebrations with a significantly reduced budget. Cultural State Secretary Ervin Nagy announced that the upcoming program will cost 4 billion forints, a sharp decrease from the 17.5 billion forints spent last year. The festivities will feature over one hundred programs across eleven locations, including a 30-minute audiovisual show projected onto the Parliament building followed by a ten-minute fireworks display.

In a separate development regarding cultural finances, 4 billion forints have been returned to the National Cultural Fund (NKA) from an initial 17 billion forint allocation made prior to parliamentary elections. This follows a controversy involving the distribution of funds to organizations and individuals linked to the ruling party. Among the entities returning funds are Attraction Performances Kft., which returned 300 million forints, and Patr-event Magyarország Kft., which returned over 150 million forints.