From 12 to 14 December, the Secretariat of the Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe programme visited Visegrád and Budapest, Hungary, to prepare the 13th Annual Advisory Forum on the Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe, which will be held in Visegrád and Budapest from 25 to 27 September 2024.

Mr. Dominioni, Executive Secretary of the Enlarged Partial Agreement (EPA), together with Ms. Amélie Chartier, Executive Assistant at the EPA and Ms. Carolina Clark, Project Officer at the European Institute of Cultural Routes, were accompanied by Ms. Eszter Csonka-Takács, member of the EPA Bureau and Director of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Department of the Hungarian Open-Air Museum, and Ms. Krisztina Tompos, ethnographer at the Hungarian Open-Air Museum, to meet the local authorities of Visegrád and discuss the organisation and logistics of the next Forum.

During the three-day visit, several meetings were held with the participation of Mr. Máté Vincze, Deputy State Secretary for Public Collections and Cultural Development at Hungary's Ministry of Culture and Innovation, and Mr. Dénes Eőry, Mayor of the City of Visegrád.  The Secretariat of the Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe programme also met the local representatives of 4 Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe crossing Hungary: the Iron Age Danube Route, the European Route of Historic Thermal Towns, the European Route of Historic Gardens and the European Cemeteries Route.

The visit provided an opportunity to present the various venues for the Forum and to highlight the city's heritage sites. In particular, the Secretariat had the opportunity to see the Visegrád Thermal Hotel and visit the Visegrád Citadel, the King Matthias Museum and the Hungarian Open Air Museum. In Budapest, the Secretariat of the Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe programme had the opportunity to visit the European Youth Centre in Budapest, the Buda Castle district and the Müpa.   

More than 300 delegates are expected to attend the annual Forum, bringing together representatives of the EPA member states, the “Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe” certified networks and candidate networks, international organisations, universities and academic centres, as well as stakeholders from cultural and heritage institutions and the tourism sector.

Hungary has been a member State of the Enlarged Partial Agreement on the Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe (EPA) since 2013.  There are currently 12 certified Cultural Routes crossing the country.