August 20 – Hungarian gastronomy festival attracts tens of thousands – PHOTOS

Budapest, 2018. augusztus 18. Készül az étel a Magyar ízek utcájában 2018. augusztus 18-án. A Szent István-napi ünnepségek részeként a háromnapos gasztronómiai eseményt a Budai alsó rakpart Várkert Bazár elõtti részén rendezik. Idén a fûszereké a fõszerep, és meg lehet kóstolni Magyarország tortáját, valamint a Szent István-napi kenyérverseny gyõztes cipóit is. MTI Fotó: Bruzák Noémi

Several tens of thousands of people visited Budapest’s Street of Hungarian Flavours gastronomy festival, which started on Saturday, government spokesman Zoltán Kovács told public media the next day.

WHAT DO HUNGARIANS CELEBRATE ON 20 AUGUST?

People who come to Hungary from abroad might see that August 20 is a national holiday here. No one works on this day: instead, there is a huge celebration with the hoisting of the national flag on Kossuth Square in Budapest, as well as fascinating fireworks in the night. Catholic believers also attend special masses hosted exclusively for this event. But why exactly is this day special? Read more HERE.

Street of Hungarian Flavours

The festival, linked to Hungary’s August 20 national holiday and traditionally organised along the western banks of the river Danube, offers an opportunity for participants to taste the novel delicacy selected as Hungary’s country cake for the year, as well as many traditional and long-forgotten Hungarian dishes. Kovács said that

the highlight of this year’s festival was spices, with many spice producers presenting their products.

Cooks from ethnic Hungarian communities in other countries have arrived equipped with recipies of such foods as cabbage soup from Southern Slovakia, meat balls wrapped in wine leaves from Romania’s Csángó Hungarian community, or doughnuts filled with plum jam, a typical dessert of the Transcarpathia region.

The festival is to continue today.

Budapest, Hungary – Street of Hungarian Flavours gastronomy festival, photo: MTI

Budapest, Hungary – Street of Hungarian Flavours gastronomy festival, photo: MTI

As we wrote few days ago, As the annual State Founding (August 20, Monday) celebrations commence, the Hungarian capital city’s public transportation will undergo considerable changes: several roads and bridges will be closed. In this handy guide, we will present some of the major programs happening in Budapest and some tips on how to avoid a chaotic journey over the city. Handy guide HERE.