Saint Stephen's Day in Hungary
August 20 · Level 9 · #444 of 2238
Saint Stephen's Day honours Hungary's first king and the foundation of the Hungarian Christian state. The national celebration brings together the country's early history, religious devotion and traditions welcoming the new harvest.
How it is celebrated: official ceremonies, church services, concerts and public festivities fill the day. Budapest hosts a procession with Saint Stephen's relic and a fireworks display, while bread made from the new harvest is blessed and ceremonially cut.
The procession's relic is known as the Holy Right. It is a mummified right hand venerated as Stephen's, giving the celebration an unusually tangible link to its royal patron.