12th Citizen 4 Towns event – Closing event in Gyöngyös

The closing event of the project took place in Gyöngyös, the lead city of the consortium, between September 26 and 28, 2025. We started the weekend together with a joint lunch at 3 p.m. on Friday. After lunch, to the surprise of the other guests, a group of four young Polish men who had arrived with the Polish delegation asked for the opportunity to give a short musical performance, which we naturally allowed them to do, and we listened with pleasure.

After lunch, the mayor of Gyöngyös welcomed the foreign guests. In his speech, he summarized what this Europe For Citizens project has given to the city of Gyöngyös and its civil organizations so far, thanked the leaders of the partner municipalities and his colleagues for organizing high-quality events, and gave special thanks to Urban Area Development Ltd. as the consortium leader.

Following the mayor's welcome speech, Tamás Kobzi, managing director of the consortium leader Gyöngyösi Várostérség Fejlesztő Nonprofit Kft. (Gyöngyös Urban Area Development Non-Profit Ltd.), gave a presentation summarizing the past two years and 12 events. The summary and conclusion of the project provided an opportunity to evaluate the results of the past two years, the values learned, the personal and online events, and the fulfillment of the project's objectives, as well as to agree that the four municipalities wish to continue their cooperation, the form of which we will determine jointly, taking into account the possibilities offered by the tender.

After the presentation, the guests traveled together to the Mátra Cultural Center, where a band of local young musicians, accompanied by a choir, demonstrated that even a small rural town can present a cultural production with talented local young people that would hold its own in any world city. The concert was enjoyed by all the foreign guests, as they performed not only Hungarian songs, but also several English-language songs and internationally known songs with live music. This was followed by dinner and then the return trip to the accommodation.

Saturday's program was very diverse. We started the day at 9 a.m. at the Mátra Museum, where the museum director herself gave us a guided tour. She showed us the museum's pride and joy, Brúnó, the uniquely complete mammoth skeleton that was found intact. This was followed by the local history exhibition, the geological and mineral exhibition, and finally the nature exhibition in the palm house. From there, the group traveled together by forest railway to Mátrafüred, where they were given a guided tour at the interactive exhibition site of the Bükki National Park Directorate in the Harkály House.

Similar to the event in Poland, we celebrated the harvest season in Gyöngyös, but instead of grain, we celebrated grapes. Regélő Borház provided lunch for the guests. After lunch, we formed a small procession and, accompanied by music from our Polish guests, we visited the demonstration harvest site. Here, each guest was given the necessary tools and protective equipment for the work and together they were able to harvest the Cabernet Sauvignon grapes assigned to them. After the harvest, we gave them the opportunity to see how the grapes are crushed and pressed, and they were also given a taste of the fresh grape juice. Afterwards, we listened to a presentation by the manager of the Wine House about the historic wine cellars of Farkasmály, accompanied by wine tasting. These cellars were built around 300 years ago and served as a refuge for thousands of people for months during the World War.

The closing event of the festival was a performance by a civil dance group from Gyöngyös, where local young people performed traditional Hungarian dances in traditional costumes, accompanied by a band. The dance program was followed by a dinner with music, and then, once again, thanks to the young Polish musicians who joined the Hungarian band, the evening turned into an international dance party, where guests from every country could participate in various traditional Polish ballroom dances, which was an unforgettable closing moment of the evening.

On Sunday morning, the delegations departed, but all the leaders, representatives, and members of civil organizations thanked us for how much they enjoyed the entire project, how much it meant to their communities and organizations, and that they would definitely like to continue with a similar project if the opportunity arises.