Events
What's on in Budapest
Festivals, concerts, markets and one-off events, soonest first.
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Budapest Wine Festival
Buda Castle · +1 and more dates
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Café Budapest Contemporary Arts Festival
Müpa and venues across the city · +1 and more dates
Dates shift by a week or two each year — confirm with the organiser before booking travel.
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Budapest Marathon
Start and finish on the Pest embankment · +1 and more dates
Dates shift by a week or two each year — confirm with the organiser before booking travel.
Advent Feast at the Basilica
Szent István tér, in front of St Stephen's Basilica · +1 and more dates
Dates shift by a week or two each year — confirm with the organiser before booking travel.
Budapest Christmas Fair, Vörösmarty tér
Vörösmarty tér · +1 and more dates
Dates shift by a week or two each year — confirm with the organiser before booking travel.
New Year's Eve in Budapest
Erzsébet tér, the embankment and Vörösmarty tér · +1 and more dates
Sparty — night bath parties at Széchenyi
Széchenyi Thermal Bath, City Park
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Budapest Spring Festival
Concert halls and venues across the city
Dates shift by a week or two each year — confirm with the organiser before booking travel.
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Danube Carnival
Vörösmarty tér, Margaret Island and the embankment
Dates shift by a week or two each year — confirm with the organiser before booking travel.
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Night of Museums (Múzeumok Éjszakája)
Around 100 museums across the city
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Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix
Hungaroring, Mogyoród
Dates shift by a week or two each year — confirm with the organiser before booking travel.
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Sziget Festival
Óbudai-sziget (Hajógyári Island)
Dates shift by a week or two each year — confirm with the organiser before booking travel.
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St Stephen's Day — Hungary's national holiday
The Danube embankment and Kossuth tér
The fixed points of the Budapest year
Whatever is or is not listed above, these come round annually and are worth planning against.
- Spring — the Budapest Spring Festival brings classical music and theatre into venues that are otherwise hard to get into.
- Summer — an open-air season on Margaret Island, the Sziget festival on Óbuda Island in August, and the national holiday on 20 August with fireworks over the Danube. That last one fills the city; book accommodation early.
- Late summer — the Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix at the Hungaroring, which is the single biggest spike in central hotel prices all year.
- Autumn — wine festivals, including one held inside the Buda Castle grounds.
- Late November to December — the Christmas markets, principally on Vörösmarty tér and outside St Stephen's Basilica. The Basilica one has an ice rink and, most evenings, a light projection on the façade.
- Winter — the outdoor thermal pools at their best, and the City Park ice rink, which is the largest in Europe and sits in front of Vajdahunyad Castle.
Dates move year to year. Check the organiser before you book flights around one.
Tickets & tours
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