World Poetry Day in Hungary – free coffee in exchange for a poem

Do you know what the whole world celebrates on 21 March? Of course, World Poetry Day, which has been commemorated since 1999 when UNESCO declared 21 March the official day for worldwide poetry celebrations, reports Un.org. The original idea was to invigorate poetry and promote the linguistic diversity of humankind, and on this occasion, cultural organisations, libraries and schools all around the world try to draw attention to the preservation of this heritage. In fact, Hungary is no exception to it. Funzine.hu collects the list of cafés and restaurants in Budapest where you can pay for a coffee with a poem on this day.

The campaign called Fizess verssel (Pay with a poem) has been a popular initiative worldwide when customers entering into a café or a restaurant can bring their favourite poem or write one on the spot and pay with it for a coffee. On the one hand, this initiative is about being creative and using one’s ideas and skills, but on the other hand, it is much more than that.

This gesture on this special day encourages a return to the oral tradition of poetry recital that is very easy to forget in the materialistic world. This is a day that every country can celebrate in its own way with the participation of non-governmental organisations.

However, it is important to note that this day is not identical with the Hungarian Day of Poetry, celebrated on 11 April, on the birthday of Attila József.

This is another excellent celebration held since 1964 on the occasion of which literary performances, book launches and competitions are organised in Hungary to honour the Hungarian poetry and celebrate the achievements of the greatest literary figures of the country.

This year, the Pay with a poem campaign of Julies Meinl brings some novelty proving that poetry is the soul of music. In fact, music is a universal language which also helps to incorporate poetry into our everyday life through lyrics. Therefore, the internationally-acknowledged musician and songwriter, JP Cooper, wrote a song for the campaign paying tribute to the world’s poets.