The Government is promoting the Hungarian – Italian Cultural Season 2013 (which starts on 1 January) by setting up a Hungarian – Italian tent at the Sziget Festival. The slogan of the 2013 event series – which aims to strengthen diplomatic and cultural relations between the two nations – is Találkozások/Incontri (‘Meetings’). Visitors to the festival can meet Hungarian and Italian celebrities in the tent, as a symbol of the friendship between the two countries.

The Hungarian – Italian tent is a Ministry of Foreign Affairs initiative, which is being jointly operated by the Ministry of Public Administration and Justice and Budapest’s Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design. Visitor participation is maximised through interactive games, including a ‘blackbox studio’ with video-recording technology. The tent provides an opportunity for young Hungarians and Italians to meet and get to know each others’ cultures, while also getting a foretaste of the Hungarian – Italian Cultural Season 2013.

The opening of the tent on Wednesday afternoon will be attended by Italy’s ambassador to Hungary H.E. Maria Assunta Accili, and Deputy State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Gergely Prőhle. Over the next few days the tent will welcome a number of celebrities, in acknowledgment of Hungarian – Italian relations.

The cultural season’s Facebook page is up and running, and will continue to be available after the Sziget Festival on www.facebook.com/MagyarOlaszEvad2013 and www.facebook.com/StagioneItaloUngherese2013.

(Ministry of Public Administration and Justice)