This weekend: Horsemen and horses to take over Heroes’ Square at the 10th National Gallop

You won’t even be able to recognise the Heroes’ Square and Andrássy Avenue between the 15^th and 17^th of September: the patter of hooves and the whoops of folk dancers will take over the whir of cars, and the incredible smells of the Hungarian cuisine will replace the exhaust fume. Visit the 10^th National Gallop (Nemzeti Vágta) and experience the whirl of galloping horsemen, fiery arrows and throbbing dancers.

According to the official website, besides the horse and carriage races fuelled by adrenalin, the organisers prepared special programmes to celebrate the jubilee of the traditional event. For the first time, visitors can watch the Fiery Gallop for free on Saturday evening and also join the country’s biggest outdoor dance house.

Photo: www.facebook.com/NemzetiVágta

One of the busiest parts of Budapest will be transformed completely. A horse racecourse will be set up on Heroes’ Square, the Kitchen of Hungary (Országkonyha) will be placed between the Hungarian Academy of Arts and 56-osok Square, there’s going to be a hussar camp in the City Park, while the cultural cavalcade of the participating settlements will take over Andrássy Avenue. More than 400 horses will be present at the square, where the best riders of 72 settlements will compete at the peak of the National Gallop.

The popular OTP Bank Charity Star Race will also be held this year. It’s going to be the competition of actors: besides the freshmen Bálint Adorjáni and Péter Bács, last year’s champion Imre Sipos, Zoltán Barabás Kiss and the young actress of Vígszínház, Patrícia Puzsa will all take part in the race.

Last year’s champion, Imre Sipos – Photo: www.facebook.com/NemzetiVágta

After the daytime races, the organisers prepared a monumental, free gala featuring horses, riders, fire and dancers. Get ready for horse hussars processing with torches, fiery arrows, trick riders, dame riders training around fire columns and a spectacular battle scene with blazing buildings on the illuminated racecourse of the 10^th National Gallop.

But the birthday celebrations won’t end with the Fiery Gallop, everyone can join Hungary’s biggest outdoor dance house after admiring the gala show. The best dance crews of the participating settlements and thousands of people are expected to join the dance to live folk music.

If you can’t visit the event, you can tune in via Duna TV or the online Gallop Radio on the official website of the event.

Featured image: www.facebook.com/NemzetiVágta

Ce: bm

Source: http://vagta.hu/