Our main celebrations taking place at the Hungarian Garden commemorate our national days, which are 15 March, 20 August and 23 October. Those are the days you’ll see the Hungarian flag flying there, although we also fly the flag on the actual day of the celebration. We lay wreaths, sing our two countries national anthems, and once a year we unveil new engraved pavers.
March 15th National Day Commemoration
17 March 2024, 3-4pm
Magyar Millennium Park (Hungarian Garden)
Join us this Sunday, 17 March at 3pm at the Magyar Millennium Park to mark Hungary’s March 15th national day, and to catch up with each other in the late afternoon sunshine afterwards. • Himnusz – Hungarian national anthem • Welcome – Milán Horváth, MMP Trustee • Petőfi Sándor: Dicsőséges nagyurak – poem recited by Anna Suhajda • Wreath-laying • New Zealand National Anthem • Mix and mingle... We will put out a table on which to put a plate of finger food to share – if you can bring one (no pressure). And we will provide cold refreshments.
Remembering 1956 and Celebrating our 20th Birthday
29 October 2023, 11-11.30am
Magyar Millennium Park (Hungarian Garden)
Welcome to everyone at the Hungarian Garden in Wellington to commemorate the 67th anniversary of the Hungarian Revolution and the Magyar Millennium Park’s 20th birthday! We will lay wreaths at the foot of the kopjafa and unveil new engraved pavers!
Hungarian Picnic
29 October 2023, 2-5pm
Avalon Pavilion, Avalon Park, 61 Taita Dr, Loqwer Hutt
Festivities celebrating the Magyar Millennium Park’s 20th birthday continue at the Avalon Pavilion in Lower Hutt. A range of traditional Hungarian foods including gulyás (goulash) and lángos (langosh) will be on offer, as well as sweet treats such as chimney cakes and slices of poppyseed or walnut roulades! There will be a competition in the Rubik’s Cube corner to see who is the fastest at solving the “Magic Cube”, as it was originally called. There will be Teqball – a more recent Hungarian invention – a football-based sport, played on a specially curved table. You will be able to see demos and have a go yourself. And of course, you can’t have a Hungarian afternoon without sampling some pálinka (fruit brandy) and even some Hungarian wine (if you’re over 18) or joining in a “dance house” (for all ages). There will be something for everyone!
March 15th National Day
11 March 2023, 2.30-3.30pm
Magyar Millennium Park
A simple commemoration on the 175th anniversary of the 1848-49 War of Independence to remember those who sacrificed their lives for freedom from tyranny.
65th Anniversary of the Hungarian Revolution
23 October 2021, 14:00-17:00
Magyar Millennium Park
About 50 of us gathered at the Hungarian Garden to remember those who rose up against Soviet oppression 65 years earlier. The new Hungarian ambassador, Dr Zsolt Hetesy, introduced himself and his family. Longtime community member Frank Vékony shared his personal memories of what it was like on the streets of Budapest in October, 1956. We laid wreaths at the Freedom Kopjafa and sung our two countries national anthems. And the beautiful weather made for a lovely afternoon catching up with old and making new friends, while enjoying highly popular and super delicious treats from the Hungarian restaurant, Anzil.