Dear Visitor,

If you are planning your holiday to Hungary, it may worth having a look at the events, festivals, concerts taking place in our country!


1. MAJOR EVENTS, FESTIVALS IN HUNGARY

2. SIGNIFICANT CONCERTS IN HUNGARY

1. MAJOR EVENTS, FESTIVALS IN HUNGARY



JANUARY:

Five Centuries of Spanish Masterpieces exhibition, Museum of Fine Art, Budapest
January
El Greco, Vel??zquez, Goya: Five Centuries of Spanish Masterpieces
Festive exhibitions mark the centenary of the Museum of Fine Arts` foundation.
A wide selection of Spanish paintings from public and private collections in Germany, Spain and Hungary will follow the development of painting in Spain from the Gothic to Francisco de Goya.

FEBRUARY:

Budapest Opera Ball

The Ball celebrates its 10th anniversary. A gala program of Hungarian and international singers and dancers add to the heady swirl of gourmet dining, wine and waltzing
Program and ticket information:
www.operabal.com


Bus??j??r??s - Moh??cs Masquerade in Moh??cs

The Moh??cs Masquerade, called `Bus??j??r??s` (Bushoyarash)is Hungary`s most frightening Carnival. Here you will see dancers in sheepskin costumes, their faces covered by wooden masks and making tremendous noise. This festivity, celebrating the death of winter and the arrival of spring, is brought to an end on Shrove Tuesday with the good-natured burial of the Carnival.


MARCH:

Budapest Spring Festival

The most prestigious and largest Art Festival celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2005. It is a showcase of the great variety and values of Hungarian and international culture.
Program schedule and ticket information:
www.festivalcity.hu


APRIL:

Budapest Spring Festival

The most prestigious and largest Art Festival celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2005. It is a showcase of the great variety and values of Hungarian and international culture.
Program schedule and ticket information:
www.festivalcity.hu


MAY:

Balaton Festival in Keszthely

The tourist season at Lake Balaton starts with a festival of classical concerts and exhibitions of fine arts as well as folklore street fares, horse and water shows.
Visit the Festetics Castle and its wonderful park!
www.keszthely.hu

JUNE:

Budapest Farewell Parade

Masquerade parade, fancy-dress competition, pop concerts and street ball take place in several open-air venues in Budapest.
Real carnival spirit takes over the city, marking the day when the last Russian soldier left Hungary (end of June, 1991).
Program information:
BUDAPEST FESTIVAL CENTER
www.festivalcity.hu/bucsu2005/

JULY:

Budapest Summer Music Festival

The Dominican Courtyard of Hilton Hotel is the scene for opera, ballet, jazz, klezmer and ragtime summer evening concerts.
The square in front of St. Stephen’s Basilica hosts concerts of top symphony orchestras of Hungary. The National Opera House is the venue for marvelous opera and ballet performances.
www.viparts.hu

Valley of arts – multicultural festival,
organised by 5 small villages ont he north Balaton region


One of Hungary’s biggest multicultural festivals the Valley of Arts and the 5 organising villages (KAPOLCS, VIG?NTPETEND, MONOSTORAP?TI, TALI?ND?–R?–GD, ?–CS) welcome the visitors in 2007-08 again.
During the 10 days of the festival there will be almost 250 different programs at 40 venues with the participation of almost 2500 artists.
75 exhibitions, 15 theatre performances, 60 classical music concerts, a world music stage, jazz evenings, children programmes, movies, play grounds, dance halls, puppet- and street theatre meetings are waiting for the spectators.
We would like to draw your attention to the Fair of Handicraft and Applied-art at Vig??ntpetend with more than 80 participants and to the National Meeting and Fair of Potters and Ceramists in Kapolcs.



AUGUST:

Formula-1 Hungarian Grand Prix
beginning of August
Hungaroring is one of the toughest circuit among the Formula-1 sites, which requires good skills and experience from the pilots and also gives a great excitement for the spectators. The big race will take place on Sunday, the 6th.
Program calendar and ticket information can be found at www.hungaroring.hu


Sziget Festival (Island Festival) Obuda island - Budapest
August 11, 2008 - August 18, 2006
This one-week festival scheduled in August for the past 14 years has grown into Central Europe’s largest multicultural festival. Over 360,000 people – young and old from all over the world – flood onto Shipyard Island for the around 1000 programmes in 60 venues: every imaginable music style, theatre, fine arts, literature, cinema, fashion, sports.

Floral Carnival in Debrecen

This week is dedicated to folklore programmes, theatre and musical evenings. On the 20th, unique creations made of flowers march along the city to the Great Forest Stadium.


Festival of Folk Arts

in the Castle District–Royal Palace in Budapest

In 2008 the Festival of Folk Arts, staged annually outside the former Royal Palace in the Castle District of Buda, celebrates its twentieth birthday. This is the premier cultural event for traditional Hungarian craftsmen and women to display both their techniques and their wares in front of large, appreciative crowds. The authenticity and quality of everything on sale is assured by the Association of Hungarian Folk Artists.
www.mesterporta.hu



St. Stephen’s (first king in the hungarian history) Day celebrated with fireworks
August 20


On this day we celebrate the nameday of our first king, St. Stephen. Commemorating this date a pre- and a postcelebration day is usually added. Like other state holidays, on this day the program starts with some traditional concerts, children and family programmes, craftstalls, streetparade, fair and food welcome the visitors. The first day night includes a Jazz festival, and the 20th night’s main point is the firework over the Danube, which lasts for 25 minutes fired from 4 different places.
www.meh.hu

Budapest Parade
August 28?, 2008

Felvonul??si square, Heroes’ Square, Budapest

Budapest Parade, the capital’s official end-of-summer street carnival now in its sixth year, invites partygoers to join the wild fun all the way up Andr??ssy Avenue into Heroes’ Square. Organizers reckon on attracting upwards of 600,000 to the convoy of more than 50 floats and mobile stages set up on Felvonul??s Square. Hungary’s top DJs are joined by several dozen world stars invited from all over Europe and overseas.
www.sziget.hu



SEPTEMBER

Septemberfest



B??kay kert, Budapest


The visitors are welcomed with the traditional programs. Megadishes for the cooking competition with a Hungarian stew speciality, concerts on 4 stages with famous performers, children corner and Perif?ŠriArt exhibition, and lot more cheerful programs awaiting for the hungry visitors at the first days of September.
www.szeptemberfeszt.hu


WINE AND HARVEST FESTIVALS IN THE TRADITIONAL WINE REGIONS
(EGER, TOKAJ, BADACSONY, VILLANY..)
September, october, 2008


OCTOBER

Budapest Autumn Festival 2008
13/10/2008. - 22/10/2008.?
OCTOBER 13, 2008 – OCTOBER 22, 2008


One of the major aims of the festival is to contribute to realising the notion of "Budapest festival city", to raising Budapest's cultural standard in Europe and strengthening its image as an important European cultural centre, by inviting high standard international productions of new art, and arousing international attention with its own productions and others created jointly with partners.
www.festivalcity.hu

more info and useful links on events in Hungary or Budapest:
www.hungary.com, www.budapestinfo.hu,
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2. SIGNIFICANT CONCERTS IN HUNGARY IN 2008