2012
The idea of the Advent tram was first conceived in 2012, which ran on a regular schedule from the first Sunday of Advent between Tiszai pályaudvar (Tiszai Railway Station) and Felső-Majláth. The exterior of the red-coloured Tatra No. 201 tram was decorated with stickers and light curtains, while the interior was only getting a solid decoration at that time.
It was a great success, the tram, dressed up in its festive decorations, was a popular ride for children and adults too.
2013
Building on the success of the previous year, in 2013 the now well-known Tatra No. 202 tram was dressed in old gold, with almost 600 metres of decorative ribbon, 100 metres of string lights and 210 metres of fluorescent tubes. The interior was also decorated in old gold and claret colours, the chairs get new upholstery, handrails were painted and decorated with festoons. The festive anticipation of the passengers was made more intimate not only by the decorations, but also by the music that accompanied the passengers on their trip.
2014
In 2014, the Advent tram was even more beautiful, even more elegant, even more festive, when rolling out of the tramway depot on 30 November. From the outside, the city's Advent tram was characterised by 100 metres of strings of lights, 210 metres of fluorescent tubes, numerous graphic elements and an elegant claret background colour that set a festive mood.
Inside, a starry sky with LED lighting, hundreds of Christmas decorations and hundreds of metres of decorative ribbons dressed the tram in festive state.
The tram No. 202 was very popular throughout December, as could be seen from the feedback of the passengers of Miskolc, comments on the most popular social networking site, the interest of local and national media and the number of people who travelled on the Advent tram. Based on the number of turn-rounds, the tram, which ran for seven weeks was used by more than 50,000 people, many for the "atmosphere".
2015
By 2015, the Miskolc’s Advent Tram had become a tradition, enthusiastically prepared for the fourth year by the employees of the transport company.
Every year, this special tram has been renewed and enriched with a new spectacular element, this year it was dressed in festive splendour with almost a kilometre of string lights, two hundred metres of fluorescent tubes, the so-called LED starry sky from the inside, an electric fireplace, a beautiful sofa, as well as hundreds of Christmas decorations and hundreds of metres of decorative ribbons.
The tram also has a large fan base on the biggest social networking site, with thousands of likes on MVK's Facebook page. Many people from abroad liked the photos of the Miskolc's Advent tram, such as people from the Netherlands, Germany, Finland, Austria, but it also received likes from Skoda's home country the Czech Republic.
2016
In 2016, the Advent Tram became the “Wonder House”. Running for six weeks and carrying tens of thousands of passengers, the most popular feature of the tram was its cottage-like exterior, which earned the name of “Wonder House”.
Once again, the passengers of the Advent tram were treated to a variety of activities. On 3 December 2016, Santa Claus took off with his Krampus, and surprised the children with candies, colouring books, storybooks and Christmas tree decorations. On 27 November, 4 and 11 December, the Miskolc Musical Műhely greeted passengers with songs, and on 17 December, the travellers could listen to Christmas songs as part of a flash mob.
2017
The travellers have become accustomed to seeing the Advent tram renewed and enriched with new attractions every year. This was no different in 2017.
With more than three hundred metres of fluorescent lights on the outside and wrought-iron decorative elements on the inside, an enchanted castle with a Christmas atmosphere awaited the passengers. In addition to the highly successful electric fireplace and the beautiful sofa in front of it, hundreds of metres of decorative ribbon and a lounge in the middle of the tram made the vehicle special.
This was the first year that the tram competed for the title of Europe's most beautiful Advent tram, announced by the Czech web portal mhd86.cz, and won the competition with an overwhelming 80% of the votes. It beat the Advent trams of sixteen cities in Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Switzerland and Poland.
2018
In 2018, the intimate, anticipatory Advent season was made even more special by the fabulous Ice Palace. In this year the Advent tram was a true work of art: stunning, unique and magical. The exterior of the train was hand-painted over several weeks, and the ice palace effect was enhanced with 3D visual elements. A real silver and white palace awaited the passengers.
The very successful electric fireplace and the beautiful sofa in front of it were not missing from the tram, nor were the Christmas fairytale characters. Passengers were welcomed by the hosts of the tram, William Advent and Velma Advent, and passengers were again able to enjoy several programmes.
The popularity of the tram was apparent from the feedback of passengers, the interest of local and national media and the number of passengers on board, which reached nearly 200,000. MVK Zrt.'s tram No. 202, the Advent Tram of Miskolc, has become more and more popular every year, and won the title of the most beautiful Advent tram in Europe for the second time in an international vote with more than 27 000 votes.
2019
Everyone will remember the charming gingerbread tram that first left the remise in 2019. The tramway was renewed both inside and outside in that year. The gingerbread house, which could almost bite from the outside, is decorated with hundreds of metres of fluorescent tubes, numerous light curtains and 3D elements.
The interior of the tram has also been renewed, a beehive oven replaced the electric fireplace. The middle part of tram was the kitchen of the cottage, and the two ends were transformed into the living room, with wonderful Advent decorations.
The Advent Tram was once again packed with programmes, with Santa Claus and his Krampus taking off on 6 and 8 December, bringing small gifts for the children on the way. On 16 December, the Szépenszóló group entertained the travelling people with fairytales and Christmas carols, and live music was provided on every Advent weekend. In this year, it won the title of Europe's most beautiful Advent tram for the third time with a record 52,000 votes.
2020
In 2020, Miskolc's stunning Advent tram will be on the track for the ninth time. Although the year 2020 was not a smooth one, the popularity of the tram remained unbroken.
The decorations of the tram reflected the previous year, but there were also some new decorative elements: candy canes, lollipops, marshmallows, bonbons, scones and chocolates. It was no surprise that the new host of the tram was a popular Hungarian cartoon character called Gombóc Artúr. Its popularity has not waned in Europe either.
For the 4th time, it beat 24 festive trains from 11 countries, including the Netherlands, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria, Poland, Germany and Croatia, with 3.45 million votes.
2021
An anniversary Advent tram will be launched in 2021. The familiar gingerbread house was decorated in gold on the inside to mark the anniversary, and the characters from Beauty and the Beast welcomed the passengers in all their glory: Belle, the Beast, Mrs. Potts, Lumière and Chip.
2022
In 2022, Miskolc’s Advent Tram won the title of Europe's most beautiful Advent tram for the 6th time, representing the 2021 design.
2023
In 2023, the staff of MVK once again prepared a surprise for the travelling public, the Miskolc Advent Tram rolled out like a fairytale forest, renewed inside and out. This was the twelfth time that this festive tram rolled out of the MVK's depot.
Inside the train, one of Miskolc's iconic landmarks, the Lillafüred waterfall, appeared.
During our trip, we were able to reminisce about the playful snowy evenings of our childhood, the thrill of sledging and meeting small forest animals, and the children could go on a mission trip in the Fairytale Forest. The intimate journey was accompanied by live music on Advent Sundays. In 2023, it remained unbeatable against the other European Advent trams. For the 7th time, it has been named Europe's most beautiful Advent tram.
