Numerous travel books describe Pécs as the Hungarian city with a touch of the Mediterranean. When a city that geographically does not belong to the Mediterranean region refers to itself as a place with a Mediterranean atmosphere, the goal is not merely to attract more tourists. Such a city intends to identify itself with a world in which buoyancy and laughter are a part of everyday life, where people get together and spend a lot of time in public places such as squares and streets till late at night, where foreigners are happy to strike up a conversation with one another, and in which it seems like there are more holidays than anywhere else in Europe. This is the kind of place Pécs would like to become, or perhaps already is.
The World stars in Pécs programme of the orchestra will bring renowned representatives of the Hungarian and the international musical scene to Pécs: In March 2010 Oliver von Dohnanyi will conduct Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9, while in April the organist of the Paris Notre Dame, Olivier Latry will give a concert in the Basilica. The fine Norwegian violinist, Henning Kraggerud will perform Mendelssohn’s violin concerto in E minor, also in April. In May, the magic virtuoso of the piano, Fazil Say will play his own works. In June, Gilbert Varga, a conductor living in Switzerland, whose parents are both of Hungarian origin, will be the guest conductor of the Pannon Philharmonic.
Pécs2010 Gastro Ventures, a special and delicious, yearlong programme series begins in Pécs. It is expected to involve people with all sorts of social background and age group in the colourful, savoury and diverse world of gastronomy. The organizers' aim while ensuring a healthy diet is to preserve and rediscover the city's gastronomic values, to map out the forgotten heritage of the Old Hungarian cuisine and to create a variety of youthful events that will promote the culinary values of Pécs and its region.
Csokonai-Award winners, Pécs’s Szélkiáltó celebrate their 35th anniversary with a large-scale jubilee concert. Their guests will be those performers with whom they have performed and worked over their long career.
East-West Passage 2009
Balkan World Music Festival and 3rd meeting at the Balkan Gateway International, Interdisciplinary Conference
November 5-7
Theme: Cultural Difference and Identification: Religion – Nation – Ideology
Year by year the programme produces an increasingly broader perspective of the cultural variety of the Balkans. This intercultural patchwork of concerts, conference speeches, contemporary
art exhibitions, film showings and dialogues between artists and thinkers has not merely contributed to the expression, “Pécs as a cultural gateway to the Balkans” within the Cultural Capital of Europe Programme. Fused together, the events of the two striking archways that form the programme of the East-West Passage – the Balkan World Music Festival and the Meeting at the Balkan Gateway International, Interdisciplinary Conference – at once serve to demonstrate and construct within the public conscience the inseparable interaction in the space occupied by Balkan literature, philosophy, politics and art.
The basis of the festival is the Bárka International Theatre Festival, held every November, some of the performances of which are hosted in Pécs. In this way they enter the international blood circulation, and the local population can become acquainted with the cream of the present European Theatre, while Pécs artists can participate in the creation of a joint production.
The eleven days of Heritage Festival - Pécs Days can be characterized with the colorfulness of cultural-artistic programs, and the balance of traditional and innovative elements. The festival is the official event of the European Capital of Culture - Pécs2010 program.
A new chapter will open in the history of the Zsolnay Factory, whose name has nearly been identified with the city of Pécs. One of the most prominent investment projects of the European Capital of Culture programme is the establishment of the Zsolnay Cultural Quarter with a total ground floor space of some 41 thousand square metres on the premises of the reviving Zsolnay Factory. The factory that is currently in operation on the site will move to the eastern blocks, making room for a cultural and artistic area that will not only be a new patch of colour on the palette of the city but the residents of Pécs will be able to add a novel facility to their wealth that will lure people to relaxation and recreation rich in content. The Zsolnay Cultural Quarter is planned to host some 200 thousand visitors every year with its informative visitor's centre, car park, cafés, university community spaces and lively cultural life. The project will improve the quality of the park in the Zsolnay Factory that includes decorative, valuable plants, monument sculptures and vases.
