14th March–30th March
BUDAPEST
BUDAPEST SPRING FESTIVAL
For 27 years now the Budapest Spring Festival has been Hungary’s biggest cultural festival. The series of events is of international significance, too. It is noted in all countries; travel agencies receive the planned programme months in advance.
In the last two weeks of March around 200 events await Hungarian and foreign tourists in 50-60 venues in Budapest. Besides classical and pop music concerts, there are theatre performances, film screenings, open-air programmes and other festival-type events.
SPRING FESTIVALS IN THE COUNTRY
14th – 30th March SZEGED
15th March – 5th April PÉCS
18th March – 3rd April KECSKEMÉT
14th March – 6th April BÉKÉSCSABA
March – April DEBRECEN
The kaleidoscope of programmes encompasses choral music, orchestral concerts, chamber recitals, theatrical productions, a puppet-theatre meeting, jazz festival and exhibitions of fine and applied arts.
www.btf.hu/english
6th June – 24th August
BUDAPEST
KERTÉSZ - MOHOLY–NAGY - BRASSAI – CAPA THE GREATEST HUNGARIAN MASTERS OF PHOTOGRAPHY
The universal history of photography records four Hungarian artists without whom no exhibition on photographic history could be regarded as complete. Their photos portray the work of the masters from the years that preceded World War I to the years after World War II, more precisely up to the time when photographic trends characteristic of the interwar years came to an end.
Museum of Fine Arts Budapest
www.szepmuveszeti.hu/web/guest/aktualitasok
1st – 3rd August
HUNGARORING – MOGYORÓD
FORMULA-1 HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIX
World-class drivers pitch their skills against each other at the Hungaroring circuit.
www.hungaroring.hu/en/
6th – 13th August
BUDAPEST
SZIGET FESTIVAL
Shipyard Island on the Danube becomes a town within the city during this multicultural festival. Around 400,000 come to Sziget each year for concerts featuring global names, the cream of Hungarian bands and rising stars, as well as for theatre performances, films, exhibitions, classical music and sports programmes.
http://www.sziget.hu/
20th – 24th August
BUDAPEST
CELEBRATION OF CRAFTS: FORUM FOR LIVING FOLK ART
Many of the most prominent craftsmen and women in Hungary showcase their skills in workshops set up throughout the Buda Castle, while visitors can also take in performances of folk music and dance. The Feast Day of King St Stephen on 20th August is marked with a procession of harvesters and the blessing of the new bread, followed by the most amazing firework.
www.nesz.hu/content/view/257/95/
31st August – 7th September
BUDAPEST
JEWISH SUMMER FESTIVAL
A wide-ranging festival that focuses on Jewish culture. It features a week of books and films, exhibitions and gastronomy events, as well as those international “languages” of culture – music and dance.
http://www.jewishfestival.hu/
10th – 14th September
BUDAPEST
BUDAPEST INTERNATIONAL WINE FESTIVAL
The best wine makers introduce themselves at exhibitions and a fair organized in the grounds of Buda Castle, and once again there is the essential wine auction and grape-harvest procession. The festival also includes cultural programmes, and classical and jazz concerts.
http://www.winefestival.hu/
30th September – 4th January
BUDAPEST
KLIMT AND THE BEGINNING OF THE VIENNESE SECESSION
The exhibition arriving at the Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest from the Albertina in Vienna wishes to portray the art of these few years. It was not only modern art and the roots of the Viennese Secession that were born in this period as European artists also started to develop ties and thus mutually influence one another at this time.
Museum of Fine Arts Budapest
http://www.szepmuveszeti.hu/
23rd November – 29th December
BUDAPEST
BUDAPEST CHRISTMAS
Folk and applied artists sell their wares, made exclusively from natural materials, in Vörösmarty Square. Browse the stalls and enjoy a cup of two of steaming mulled wine.
www.budapestinfo.hu/en
31st December
BUDAPEST
“NEW YEAR’S EVE” GALA AND BALL IN THE OPERA HOUSE
Prominent artists of the Hungarian State Opera House and foreign star guests perform in this gala concert staged in one of Europe’s most attractive buildings. The festive supper is prepared by chefs from the internationally renowned Gundel Restaurant, and is followed by a New Year ball that lasts until dawn.
www.viparts.hu/english/index.html