WWF Hungary is happy to announce that out of the 16 settlements from 8 counties registered to this year’s Big Jump challenge, the award for the biggest splash goes to Törökszentmiklós. Once again, Hungary made the biggest Big Jump in the Danube region.

Just like last year, towns and villages organized unique, creative and very enthusiastic events – it was extremely hard to pick a winner. Kisoroszi was only two points behind Törökszentmiklós, but Nagykörű, Herend, and also the other contestants celebrated the day of European fresh waters in magnificent ways.

Törökszentmiklós, which participated in last year’s challenge as well, started off the Big Jump with a bike tour. The group cleared the bank of the Tisza River from litter, followed by an interesting lecture by one of Hortobágy National Park’s rangers. “The jump itself was accompanied by loud battle-cries – all of the 70 participants dived into the Tisza, holding hands. This way they demonstrated how important the Tisza and the preservation of natural resources are to them”, Imre Markót, mayor of Törökszentmiklós, said.

The winning team will be the guest of WWF Hungary for a bus tour, visiting one of their project sites.

Herend organized a wellington-walk in Séd creek, while the jumpers of Sződliget turned out to be the loud and cheerful residents of the town’s summer camp. In Kisoroszi – located just across the Danube, opposite to the central event in Dunabogdány – people spent the day with sports, races and ‘live table football’.

Locals in Gyermely attempted to find a name together for their – yet – no-name creek, while in Nagymaros, different outdoor activities were held on the Danube riverbank. In Nagykörű, not only did they have a canoe championship and a lángos-eating contest before the jump, they also had a horse swimming attraction at the end of the day.

In Sajóörös, they strolled into the Sajó River to raise awareness for the importance of freshwater. In Ibrány, mostly young people participated, while the locals in Vác formed a human chain to walk into the Danube. The jump in Mosonmagyaróvár took place as part of the Voluta Festival. In Zebegény, some of the almost 100 participants jumped from canoes and dragon boats – afterwards, they could cool off with a watermelon-eating contest. In Heresznye, the whole weekend was about freshwaters, as their IX. Dráva Half Marathon on Saturday was also dedicated to the “Amazon of Europe”.

“These colorful and creative jumps reflected the key message of the Big Jump – the importance of protecting our freshwaters. The photos and videos we received from the events from all over the country express these settlements’ love and commitment to nature” – said Tamás Gruber, Freshwater Team Leader of WWF Hungary. “We would like to thank the whole country for jumping with us this year, and we are looking forward to meeting everyone again in 2017!”

More videos by the participating settlements to enjoy:

Vác:

Ibrány:
Zebegény: