King St. Stephen’s Day is one of the oldest holiday celebrated by Hungarian-speaking communities all around the world.
It is the Memorial Day of the foundation of the Christian Hungarian State by King Stephen I. He was canonized on 20 August 1083, and 20 August is the feast day. The relics of King Stephen died in 1083 were elevated on the altar of the Basilica in Székesfehérvár, Hungary, on that day, which was equivalent to his canonization.
The largest ethnic Hungarian civil society organisation in Slovakia, Csemadok, decided in 2016 to celebrate the feast day and commemorate St. Stephen by holding national events. The decision was taken in the municipality Diakovce. One of the oldest medieval churches can be found here, and the oldest part of the church is St. Stephen’s Chapel.
Csemadok will organise the national festival in Diakovce with the aim of creating tradition, and the festival in late August will also be the joint tribute and common feast day of the Csemadok members and Hungarians living in the village and in neighbouring counties.
(www.mkp.sk, 22 August 2017)
Minority Report / Bulletin on the Hungarian Community in Slovakia
