Hungary

The Zsolnay Heritage Management Nonprofit Ltd. and the city of Pécs organized its first light festival in July 2016, which has been the only event of its kind in the country. The organizing team has been unchanged since the beginning and in recent years has launched many new initiatives that go beyond the framework of the summer festival. Among them, one stands out: the most spectacular and successful elements of the Advent event series in Pécs, it is the National Advent Building Painting Competition for Children.

Counter to the Light Festival, this event does not invite famous international visual artists to demonstrate light art works, but rather appeals to children and invites them to create. We make the preparation for Advent truly memorable by inviting the little ones to make light painting on the facade of one of the central buildings in the city centre. The projection of the children’s drawings in Pécs take place on facade of Mosque stands on main square and it has been built in the 16^th century; in Osijek the projection take place on the sv. Mihovil’s church in the  fortress of Osijek.

Founded by the European Union, within the CERV program, this year our twin city, Osijek has been enjoyed to this heart-warming event and we made a joint Light Painting Children’s Drawing Competition. We intend to bring the residents of the two cities closer to each other through a shared experience where the focus is on awakening the creativity of the little ones and the loving experience of Advent.

The special feature of the project do not require language skills, and it is accessible and enjoyable for everyone, regardless of age.

The event provides a great opportunity to connect the citizens of two cities.

The implementation of the project in both countries and cities is another milestone in the 50-year twin-city relationship between Pécs and Osijek.

The implementation of the project  means a long-term cooperation covering a new area, and friendships and long-term relationships can develop between the children participating in the project, which will definitely lead to the development of an equal, friendly, national and European values-carrying society.

Raising children in a multicultural environment contributes a lot to the development of a high level of tolerance, which prevents the development of conflicts based on ethnic and gender discrimination.