Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi, commander of the Hungarian Armed Forces, said the Hungarian Air Force will perform fly-passes over the River Danube during this year’s August 20 holiday. Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi told a press conference that he had inspected the pilots practising for the holiday festivities from the Prime Minister’s Office balcony. He said that the air show will feature every type of aircraft in the Air Force, such as Gripen fighters, training and cargo aircraft, as well as Mi-24, Mi-17 and H145M helicopters.
Zoltán Kovács, State Secretary for International Communications and Relations, said the holiday would be celebrated with a spectacular display: air force planes will be joined by civilian aircraft. The operative group overseeing the safety aspects of the celebrations met on Monday and established that preparations were proceeding according to plan. The August 20 celebrations will again span four days this year, with hundreds of programs on offer to visitors at some 20 venues from Aug. 18. Official state events will include the swearing-in ceremony of new officers, the air show, the hoisting of the national flag and guided tours to see the Holy Crown in Parliament. Meanwhile, church celebrations will include the traditional festive holy mass and the Aug. 20 procession of Saint Stephen’s Holy Right Hand. The festivities will close out with the traditional evening fireworks display over the Danube, with some 40,000 fireworks set to go off between Margaret Bridge and Petőfi Bridge.
Photo credit: MTI