Amazing celebration coming up this weekend in Budapest! – Detailed guide

Photo: www.facebook.com/Rizsavi Tamás

During the long weekend of 20^th August, a wide range of St. Stephen’s Day events will take place in the Hungarian capital, including traditional festive programs, historical performances, exhibitions, classical and popular music concerts, festivals, parades, sporting events, art programs and gastronomic experiences, as well as the spectacular evening fireworks on 20^th August. See the detailed program guide below!

19th August

The series of events will start on 19th August at 4 pm with the Street Music Festival and Foodtruck Show in Liberty Square that will also give place to the Veszprém Street Music Festival; within the framework of which, musicians from 14 countries will give 151 concerts in 12 locations during the long weekend. On that day, we should not miss Elizabeth Square either, where visitors can attend concerts of Hungarian musicians, formations and DJs at the Szabadrét Festival.

20th August

On 20^th August, classical music lovers should visit the Garden of Philosophers on Gellért Hill, where the audience can enjoy classical music concerts in a pleasant picnic atmosphere with an impressive panorama of the Buda Castle, the Parliament and St. Stephen’s Basilica. Among the programs in Buda, the audience can enjoy the performance of a wide range of popular Hungarian bands. In addition, people can also attend a wide range of theatre performances at the Operetta Promenade, in front of Pesti Vigadó, during the long weekend. Besides, the Road Movie Live concert series will also be held this weekend on the quay of the Budapest University of Technology, where performances of popular Hungarian singers and bands can be enjoyed.

Hungarian news portal Helló Magyar reports that, as traditionally, every year, a parade will be organised on Andrássy Avenue. Here, besides the outstanding figures, inventors, artists and venues of Hungarian history, the emblematic figures and symbols of the Christian and Catholic religions will come to life in several spectacular installations.

As we previously reported, this year, Budapest is preparing for its biggest celebration ever, as a result of which, a number of new visual elements will be added to this year’s program series. This is also true for the Budapest air parade that awaits visitors with previously unseen spectacles. According to the commander of the Hungarian Armed Forces:

“This year, the audience can see manoeuvres over the Danube that people in Hungary have not yet been able to see with a Hungarian aircraft”.

Photo: MTI/Máthé Zoltán

The approx. 45-mins long spectacular air parade will take place on the section of the Danube in front of the Parliament, where the audience can see the young officers taking the oath and admire what the pilots are capable of with the old and new equipment of the Hungarian Army.

In the evening, the day’s main attraction can be viewed; a more spectacular and larger light and fireworks display than ever before, including 40,000 rockets. The firework stations will be set up on the Danube line for 4.3 kilometres.

So one of the biggest fireworks in Europe will take place in Budapest on 20th August.

Gastronomy lovers should visit the Hungarian Flavors Street in the area in front of the Castle Garden Bazaar, where visitors can taste the country’s cake and sugar-free cake and the St. Stephen’s Day breads. Vörösmarty Square is also worth a visit because it hosts the Csárda Festival this year, awaiting its visitors with a wide range of gastronomic offers and a traditional festival on the stage.

In the Alkotmány Street you can see the exhibition entitled The Promenade of Cities, which presents the cultural richness and diversity of the country. Nearby in Kossuth Square, people can visit the exhibition of the reconstructed Golden Train, the relic wagon, the original of which was made in 1938.

Photo: MTI/Máthé Zoltán

The Olympic Games will not be left out of the program series either. At the event entitled SportHeroes at March 15 Square, the great athletes and Olympians of the nation introduce themselves. The program also includes sports games, as well as an exhibition of sports history from photographs and relics of the nation’s Olympians.

Within the framework of the program of the Hungarian Fashion & Design Agency to be held in Budapest Whale shopping centre, Hungarian designers and craftsmen will be presented. The exhibition includes contemporary Hungarian fashion and design products, and visitors can also participate in workshops, lectures and roundtable discussions.

Families with children should visit the Children’s Park between Vilmos Vázsony promenade and Vajdahunyad promenade, where, among others, the fairytale figures of István Csukás and knightly games will be shown to the minor ones.

Detailed information about St. Stephen’s Day programs is available on the szentistvannap2021.hu website and through the St. Stephen’s Day 2021 mobile application.