Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
revolution was crushed by the Austrians with Russian help. Wreaths are laid at the Eternal
Flame.
Commemorationofthe1956Uprising
Oct 23. A national holiday to mark the 1956 Upris-
ing and the declaration of the Republic in 1990. Ceremonies take place in Kossuth tér, by
the nearby Nagy Imre statue, and at Nagy's grave in the New Public Cemetery. Bear in mind
that 1956 has left a divided inheritance and tempers can flare.
LGBTQFilmFestival
Oct-Nov;
budapestpride.com
.Budapest'smajorgayfilmfestival.
There is also the Lesbian Identities Festival (LIFT - Leszbikus Identitások Fesztiválja;
labrisz.hu/english
)
in early Nov.
NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER
All Saints' Day (Mindenszentek napja)
Nov 1. Cemeteries stay open late and candles are
lit in memory of departed souls, making for an incredible sight as darkness falls.
StNicholas'sDay(Mikulás)
Dec 5 & 6. On Dec 5, children clean their shoes and put them
in the window for “Mikulás”, the Santa Claus figure, to fill with sweets; naughty children
are warned that if they behave badly, all they will get is
virgács
, a gold-painted bunch of
twigs from Mikulás's little helpers.
Christmas(Karácsony)
Dec 24 & 25. The main celebration is on Dec 24, when the city be-
comes eerily silent by late afternoon. Children are taken out while their parents decorate the
Christmas tree (until then the trees are stored outside, and on housing estates you can often
see them dangling from windows). When the kids return home, they wait outside until the
bell rings, which tells them that “little Jesus” (Jézuska) has come. Inside, they sing carols by
the tree, open presents, and start the big Christmas meal, which traditionally includes spicy
fish soup. In the preceding weeks there are Christmas fairs in several locations around town,
the best being in the Museum of Ethnography, where traditional crafts are demonstrated.
New Year's Eve (Szilveszter)
Dec 31. Revellers gather on the Nagykörút during the even-
ing, engaging in paper trumpet battles at the junction with Rákóczi út.
CULTURE AND ETIQUETTE
Forty years of Communism swept away Hungary's archaic semi-feudal society but you
can still find remnants ofthe old ways,for instance in the language. Asaforeigner,you
are not obliged to know these details, but Hungarians will love it if you can get them
right.
Hungarians preserve certain formalities in meeting and greeting. Young people will usually
go straight into the informal form of address with each other (the Hungarian equivalent of the
