Past Events 2007
Gulyas Festival: Ambassador Foley Strengthens Bonds of Friendship through Gastronomy
Video transcript
On September 8, the 9th Szolnok Gulyas Festival was organized with the goal of creating a tradition, developing the Bacs-Kiskun-Szolnok region’s tourism and celebrating one of the most well-known symbols of Hungarian gastronomy. Ambassador Foley was welcomed by Mayor Ferenc Szalay, other local dignitaries and representatives of Szolnok’s sister cities.
As special guest of the Szolnok Gulyas Festival, Ambassador Foley opened one of Hungary’s most unique gastronomic gatherings. As she emphasized in her opening remarks, gastronomy and sampling one of Hungary’s most famous contributions to the world culinary culture can also contribute to her most important goal - deepening the bonds of friendship and mutual understanding between Hungary and the United States.
“ I hope that by joining you today we will bring more attention to this fabulous festival and bring more Americans to visit here in the future.
In conclusion there are only two words more to say:
Jó étvágyat kívánok!”
During her visit through the festival tents, the Ambassador tasted local Hungarian specialties and visited the Mobile Military Training Team that assists the Hungarian 34th Special Operation Force Battalion stationed in Szolnok and expected to deploy to Afghanistan in the near future.
At the Embassy’s information tent, representatives from the Public Affairs Section, the Fulbright Advising Center and the American Corner Debrecen provided a wide range of cultural and educational information to the festival’s nearly 50.000 visitors. In addition the Embassy team cooked its own gulyas lead by an American chef who was invited just for this special occasion.