Retro Mayday parade planned in Stalin City

Festival organizer Lajos Stanga is planning a retro festival in Dunaújváros (formerly known as Sztálinváros) for 1 May with Wartburg cars and clothes from the sixties, writes news portal index.hu. The city was built to support a steelworks by the Communist government in 1950 as part of its industrialization program.

MTI

(Top) A sign says "Long live Stalin!" on the building of the Dunaújváros Town Council in 1951. (Bottom) Organizers of the Retro May 1 procession pose with communist memorabilia.

According to Stanga's plans, Dunaújváros, the first Socialist industrial town in Hungary, would base its festival on its labor movement tradition. He thinks that the 1 May festivities can make the city as famous as Debrecen was made by the Flower Carnival or Mohács by the annual Busó March. Stanga, now a festival organizer, previously worked for the local government. He has many plans for festivals in 2008, all geared to making Dunaújváros an attractive destination for tourists.

The event would be modeled on the Mayday parades held before the regime change, but without the political slogans and symbols. Marchers grouped by company would proceed along Vasmű út (Steelworks road) in their old clothes from the sixties and seventies, with photos, flags, balloons and other objects representing their occupations.

In addition to the procession, the local cinema would show old newsreels, and vintage car meetings and a buffet featuring potato soup and "grízes tészta" would add to the atmosphere.

According to Stanga, Ft 40 million (€160,000) and 30 organizers are needed for the event. Some local companies have offered to assist, and people in Debrecen, Ózd and Tatabánya are so interested in the project that they would travel to participate in it.

In recent years, Stanga has drawn attention to the former steel town by organizing wine festivals. In addition to the Mayday festival, he plans a majorette meeting for Pentecost and a straw festival featuring straw figures in Fall.

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