Budapest has the best Christmas fair in Europe

Budapest’s Advent Basilica has won the online vote for Europe’s best Christmas fair with a record-breaking number of votes, the organisers told MTI on Thursday.

In the European Best Destination travel portal’s competition, the Advent Basilica in Budapest came out on top ahead of festive events in 21 major European cities, including Madrid, Vienna, Brussels, Salzburg and Prague, the report said.

KarĂ¡csonyi vĂ¡sĂ¡r Bazilika Advent Christmas fair
Read alsoAn all-inclusive guide to Hungarian Christmas fairs

St. Stephen’s Square Advent Fair has bagged this title three times in a row since 2019. Besides, it also earned the title of the Standing Star of Christmas Fairs.

This year, a record turnout was recorded, with 179 travellers from 179 countries. 374,803 online voters favourited the Budapest Advent fair. The Basilica of the Advent was the European leader with 51,253 likes, the most votes ever.

Only the fairs in Zagreb and Strasbourg have managed to triple this so far, they added.

The online edition of Forbes also highlighted that only those Christmas fairs were eligible for votes that offered cultural and artistic events, including concerts, creative workshops, Christmas lights, fireworks and ice rinks while placing a strong focus on sustainability with local food and handcrafted products.

Gdansk in Poland came second in the poll, behind the St. Stephen’s Basilica Christmas market, with Craiova in Romania in third place.

Christmas Market Budapest Vörösmarty Square
Read alsoThis is how much you have to spend at Budapest’s two biggest Christmas markets

Source: MTI