The festivities, which took place on September 2 and 3, 2023, were visited by seven and a half thousand visitors from Slovakia and abroad, and there were no shortage of distinguished guests among them.
The 31st year of the national hunting festivities of St. Hubert's Days was traditionally carried out in the spirit of the message of the legend of St. Hubert "not only to hunt game but especially to protect it and understand its importance in nature".
The ceremonial opening of the St. Hubert's Days took place in the park, where the main program also took place. The anthem of the Slovak Hunting Chamber was performed on stage by the soloist of the Slovak National Theatre Opera Otokar Klein, accompanied by French horns and members of the Slovak Trumpeters' Club.
The departmental awards of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of the Slovak Republic were ceremoniously presented to meritorious workers for significant contributions to the development of hunting in Slovakia and awards from the Slovak Hunting Association. The Poľana Protected Hunting Area was inducted into the Hall of Honor and Glory of Hunting in Slovakia.
As part of the main program, awards were presented on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the founding of the Alpine Dachshund Breeders' Club. An exhibition was also prepared in the Baroque granary for this anniversary.
We introduced new products such as the flag of the cynological club, the flag of St. Hubert's Days, and two engaging publications: Hunting Chose Me and Hunting and Fishing in the Manor House in Svätý Anton.
Demonstrations of the Hungarian Greyhound's running were presented by friends from Hungary, from the Hungarian Greyhound Club.
We added a touch of humor with folk tales about miners, foresters, hunters, and fishermen, and with the humorous fictional character of Ignatius of Štiavnica, where the truth hidden in it accompanies us for generations.
The main stage also belonged to the children of the F. Coburg Elementary School in Svätý Anton, who presented us with the play Legends of St. Hubert, and the children of the M. Hell Elementary School in Štiavnické Bane presented an interesting falconry performance. The traditional theater performance Paradájz Pikčr took place in the park.
Traditionally, visitors could see the expositions of the manor house, with the exhibition "Hunting Gallery", falconry demonstrations, a presentation of the Slovak wirehaired pointer, a special club exhibition of Alpine dachshunds, archers, craftsmen and attractive fishing, "Hunting Trail - Hunting for Children presented by teachers of the Secondary Vocational School of Forestry in Banská Štiavnica. The Hubertov Drop of Blood has been a great success for several years, with 34 donors participating.
In the representative courtyard, visitors could admire the new national record for the red deer trophy, as well as other national trophy records. The courtyard belonged to forestry and hunting pedagogy, a novelty this year was the presentation "Tastes and Smells of the Forest".
There was a competition for the Best Beard, Hunting Photography, Hunting Hat, flint throwing in rye or Hunting Knife and Hunting Jewelry. We diversified the program with a mini-course in luring called "Echoes of Podsitnianske".
A mass was held in the baroque chapel on the occasion of the establishment of the Provincial Commandery of Slovakia - Order of St. Hubert.
Saturday afternoon belonged to the Slovak Championship in Deer Luring and the Slovak Championship in Luring Other Game. Jaroslav Mlynárik became the Slovak Champion in Deer Luring for the sixth time, Miroslav Poliček the first vice-champion and Tomáš Minich the second vice-champion. Ľubomír Olexa became the Slovak Champion in Luring Other Game, Jaroslav Mlynárik the first vice-champion and Michal Ondrejkov the second vice-champion.
Sunday belonged to the Trumpeters, the local church choir in Svätý Anton and the Sitňan folklore ensemble.
The culmination of the 31st year was the traditional Svätohubert Mass with a procession of a hunted deer and gifts of nature.
The fact that visitors to the celebrations left satisfied is mainly due to the esteemed partners, foreign partners, sponsors and media partners. Together we managed to successfully present the meaningful activities of hunters in the Svätohubert message and in the message “Hunting makes sense”.