István Márta, who heads the Hungarian Festival Association, said the year of festival tourism had to be defined in order to be successful. Priorities have to be set, the transparency of programmes must be ensured, and quality, tradition and renewal made key points, he added.
In order to achieve these goals, an 80- to 90-member assessment committee was established and started evaluating the country's festivals from April 1.
State Secretary at the Ministry of Education and Culture Márta Schneider said the concept for Hungary's festivals drawn up last year was working well. The idea involves the joint participation of the National Culture Fund and the local government portfolio on state financing for festivals, she said.
Miklós Kovács, state secretary in charge of tourism at the Ministry of Local Governments, said some HUF 650 was available for festivals that draw tourists this year.
László Harsányi, Chairman of the National Cultural Fund, said much could be made of the Erkel Year in 2010 and the Liszt anniversary in 2010.
About 3,000 festivals take place in Hungary each year, said Márta.
Also participating at the event was State Secretary at the Ministry of Education and Culture in charge of culture Ferenc Csák.
Source: Hungarian News Agency (MTI)
Photo: Máté Nándorfi and MTI
