Festive fair on August 20 the celebration of our constitution

Hungarian Socialist Realist poster, advertising a propaganda event in the city of Cegléd. It was common in the Socialist era to industrialize small cities on the countryside and the city of Cegléd also fell victim to this industrialization.  

The propaganda event was a festive market which was held on the 20th of August. Originally this date is the national and state celebration of Hungary, and the anniversary of the canonization of the first Hungarian king, Stephen I. During the Socialist era, between 1949 and 1989, it was replaced by the anniversary of the new constitution that the first Socialist political leadership of the period created.

The design depicts a cheerful market scene with a huge crowd of people, wondering around the stalls. The typical folkish clothing implies that these people were peasants. There is also a grandiose platform appearing higher in the background, decorated with red and national-tricolour flags, flowers and political symbols (a big red star and the coat of arms of the political leadership of the time). Traditional, festive folk-costumed male and female figures are captured on the stage, standing or dancing. The whole scene is a propagandistic composition about the happiness the celebration brings to everyone in Socialism.