Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
the National Museum. Budapest decks itself out with Hungarian tricolours (red, white and
green), and there are speeches and gatherings outside the museum and by Petőfi's statue
on Marcius 15 tér. The more patriotic citizens wear little cockades in the national colours
pinned to their lapels.
Budapest Spring Festival (Budapest Tavaszi Fesztivál)
Mid- to late March;
btf.hu
.
The city's most prestigious arts festival is an intensive, two-week jamboree of classical
music, with orchestral, chamber and operatic performances taking place in venues across
the city. There's also theatre, cinema, exhibitions (including the World Press Photos show)
and dance, including a big folk dance gathering and market (
Országos Táncháztalálkozó és
Kirakodóvásár;
tanchaz.hu
)
.
Easter(Húsvét)
Late March/early April. Easter has strong folk traditions in Hungary. In the
city this islimited tosome processions inchurches Easter Saturday,while onEaster Monday
locsolkodás
(splashing) takes place, when men and boys visit female friends to spray them
with cologne in a tamer version of an older village tradition involving a bucket of water.
Kids get a painted egg or money in return for splashing, while the men receive
pálinka
(schnapps). There is an arts and craft fair in the Royal Palace (
budavarihusvet.hu
), with
traditional skills such as egg painting on display, accompanied by music and dancing. There
are lots of Easter stalls in Vörösmarty tér in central Pest, and folk skills are on display in situ
at the
Hungarian Open-Air Museum
in Szentendre. You can also catch performances of the
Bach Passions in the big, yellow Lutheran church on Deák tér.
Titanic International Film Festival
Mid-April;
titanicfilmfest.hu
. Superb ten-day pro-
gramme of independent films from all over the world, with separately themed categories.
The venues include the Uránia and Toldi cinemas. Most
films
have English subtitles.
MAY, JUNE AND JULY
Labour Day
May 1. These days, Budapest's citizens are no longer obliged to parade past
the Lenin statue that once stood behind the Műcsarnok; instead, the major trade unions put
on a big do in the park, with shows, games, talks and food and drink in large quantities.
Pálinka Festival
May;
budapestipalinkafesztival.hu
.
This colourful four-day event in
Varosháza Park features some two dozen distilleries offering several hundred variations on
the quintessential Hungarian tipple, alongside sausages, cheese and the like.
Book Week (Könyvhét)
Early June. Established in 1929, and as popular as ever, Book
Week sees Hungarian writers from all over the world gather around stalls on Vörösmarty tér.
There are signings - politicians have now joined the topic circus - as well as dancing on the
temporary stages in the two squares.
CraftBeerandStreetFoodFestival(Főzdefeszt)
early June;
fozdefeszt.hu
. The celeb-
ration of the growing popularity of Hungarian microbreweries joins forces with the Street
