Pop-up skating rink to be built in Budapest

As winter approaches (even though the weather doesn’t quite conform), Christmas fairs, skating rinks and other Christmas wonders open throughout the country. On 24 November, the Budapest Christmas Fair (Budapesti Karácsonyi Vásár) and the City Hall Winter Experience Park (Városháza Téli Élménypark) will open. The event will feature a Christmas market on Deák Ferenc Square and an ice rink in the City Hall Park.

Ice skating in the City Hall Park

The ice rink next to the City Hall in Szent István Square, Újpest, Budapest. Source: Facebook/Sportos Újpest

From 24 November to 7 January, skating will be open every day from 8 AM to 8 PM in the City Hall Park (Városháza park). From Thursday to Sunday, we can skate for an additional hours skating will be open until 9 PM. Skates will be available for rent at the park, while stocks last, Budapest Brand nPlc., the organiser of the programme, told MTI.

Traditional Christmas sweets, food and drinks, as well as Hungarian handicraft products will be available at the Deák Ferenc Square market and in the City Hall Park. On 3 December, the first Sunday of Advent, there will be a candle-lighting ceremony in the City Hall Park. Afterwards, on 6 December, there will be a Santa Claus party, Lelépő reports.

The Christmas Shoebox Action (Cipősdoboz Akció – read more about the campaign in English HERE) of the Hungarian Baptist Aid (Baptista Szeretetszolgálat) will also be held in the City Hall Park, where useful and nice souvenirs and toys will be waiting for children living in disadvantaged or difficult circumstances until 18 December.

EUR 266,000 ice rink in Felcsút, Orbán’s home village

In addition to the narrow gauge railway, the Pancho Arena, the lookout, the boating lake, a sports hotel, and many other attractions, a winter attraction is coming to Felcsút: an ice rink. The ice rink will measure 17 x 30 metres and will cost a net of HUF 91.6 million (EUR 243,446) (gross: HUF 116.3 million, EUR 309,082).

The Austrian contractor will also supply 30 plank walls and the equipment needed to maintain the rink. The company will also provide 105 pairs of skates, a skate sharpening machine and 50 skate-proof rubber mats, RTL.hu reports.

Read also:

• VIDEO, PHOTOS: Here is Hungary’s Christmas Tree – find it at the Parliament
• 10 reasons to visit Hungary during the colder months