Programs & Events 2009
Inter-active Embassy Tent Attracts Youth at Sziget Festival
As part of its youth outreach program, the U.S. Embassy in Budapest set up a tent at one of the largest youth festivals in Europe, the Sziget Festival, which drew a record 390,000 visitors over its five-day run, August 12-16. The Embassy tent was on the path between several of the main music stages, so thousands of Hungarians and youths from other countries visited the tent. The aim of the Budapest Embassy’s program was to involve young people in entertaining games, yet provide them with the opportunity to get information about the United States as well as studying there. The main theme of this year’s festival was the 20th anniversary of the change of the regime in Hungary and the Fall of the Berlin Wall that marked the end of Communism in Central and Eastern Europe. To commemorate this significant event, the Embassy’s tent also tried to highlight this theme in many of its activities. The most popular activity proved to be a photo opportunity with a President Obama cut-out.
Chargé d’Affaires Jeffrey Levine worked at the Embassy tent on Wednesday, August 12, where he held conversations with tent visitors and listened to their views about the United States. He awarded a certificate and an I-Pod to the most promising drummer, the winner of the Embassy’s Rock Band video game competition.
Representatives of the Hungarian-American Fulbright Commission, IIE and HAESF answered visitors’ questions about study opportunities in the United States and how to get through the application process.
In addition to the tent, the U.S. Embassy’s Public Affairs Section also organized programs at other venues of the festival. Festival-goers could participate in a country line dance class, listen to the most up and coming Roma Jazz trio, the Tzumo Acoustic Trio, and could take part in time travel with the Bohém Ragtime Band when listening to authentic American jazz from the 20’s and 30’s.
