Santa Claus brings gifts to Hungarian town Siófok by helicopter

By Magyar Ádám & Jerry Fisayo-Bambi

The iconic Christmas figure of Santa Claus arrived via helicopter in Siófok, a town on the southern bank of Hungary's Lake Balaton.

Santa arrived in style on Friday, and presented gifts to several families in the local community.

Children and their parents had gathered on the central beach by Lake Balaton, next to the town's ferris wheel, and waited patiently for Santa Claus who was met with great excitement upon his arrival.

Candy was given to all those present, and local families that are struggling financially received their gift bags afterwards, local reports say.

The event was part of a programmme by Baptist Aid-BBCF, an international charity which said that, despite current economic difficulties in Hungary, donations this year surpassed those of previous years.

"We have also observed that the composition of shoe boxes has improved considerably in recent years. This means that it is no longer a case of people cutting up toys at home, but people are trying to work on giving children new toys of ever better quality," said Márk Szabó, coordinator of the Shoebox Action at the Baptist AID NGO.

"So we see that this is important for people, and more and more people are joining this campaign," Szabó added.

Santa also tried out the city ice rink and played with the children. "I think it served its purpose because the smiles on the faces of the children are unforgettable," he said.

The Baptists said they brought 100 gift packages to the beach in Siofok and distributed them amongst the children.

With a total of 53,680 boxes received from donors at various collection points worldwide, the NGO said the distribution this year across marginalised and vulnerable communities surpassed that of last year.

Video editor • Jerry Fisayo-Bambi