Inauguration of Main Square at the Festival of Military Bands in Szentendre

Although the renovated main square of Szentendre was already opened to traffic on Friday, the first day of the three-day program series, the real inauguration of the square started only when the military bands marched in on Saturday, August 27.

Col. Zsolt Mikusi, the commander of the HDF Central Training Base (HDF CTB) delivered the opening speech at the festival. He emphasized that this large-scale performance does not mean that the town’s public has not encountered military music, as the Army Band of Szentendre (ABS) has been a regular participant of national holidays and military ceremonies. The first regional festival of military bands is intended to carry on a dialogue with the public using the expressive language of music.

According to the colonel, it is no accident that military music – which had become institutionalized with the establishment of regimental bands during Maria Theresa’s reign – usually enjoys great success. The reason is that over the past 200 years, military music has made a lot of progress and earned itself considerable prestige, as evidenced by the organization of Hungarian and international festivals of military bands. Without military music, both our musical culture and the soldiers’ everyday life would be poorer.

During the festival, the army bands of Tata, Budapest and Szentendre garrisons made their appearance before the interested audience.

Photos by the author