Hungarian Culture Day expands to week-long celebration with new identity

Hungarian Culture Day will now span an entire week and adopt a distinct identity, unifying events across the Carpathian Basin, Magdolna Zavogyan, state secretary for culture, said at a press conference in the Hungarian National Museum.

Themed “Culture Connects Us” for 2026, the initiative aims to strengthen national identity in Hungary, the Carpathian Basin, and the diaspora, Zavogyan said. “Preserving Hungarian culture is not just about honouring the past but securing the nation’s future,” she said.

This year, 30 museums nationwide will offer free entry on Jan 22, while 190 cultural institutions beyond Hungary’s borders will host events. The government has also awarded ministerial certificates of recognition to over 600 cultural professionals.

Zavogyan highlighted recent wage increases for culture workers: a 20 percent raise in 2022 and an additional 15 percent from Jan 1, 2026, benefiting 41,000 employees.

In 2025, Hungary’s 12,000 cultural institutions welcomed 50 million visitors, with nearly 7 million attending exhibitions.

Anita Kiss-Hegyi, state secretary for cultural relations, announced a gala event at the Hungarian Academy of Arts on Jan 21, with similar galas planned in several county seats. The programme includes screenings of the film Hungarian Wedding in Tallinn, Cluj-Napoca, and New York, as well as regular Akvafolk events at Budapest’s Akvarium Klub, featuring Hungarian folk dance for international audiences. The Liszt Institutes will also organise global events.

The Hungarian National Museum’s Public Collections Centre, the country’s largest cultural network, will offer free admission to the Museum of Fine Arts, Hungarian National Gallery, Petofi Literary Museum, Museum of Ethnography, Ludwig Museum of Contemporary Art, Rakoczi Museum in Sarospatak, and King Matthias Museum in Visegrad.

Gabor Zsigmond, Director-General of the Hungarian National Museum, announced that a new exhibition on Attila the Hun’s legacy will open on Jan 22, showcasing over 400 artefacts from 64 museums across 13 countries.

The National Széchényi Library will host an awards ceremony on Jan 20, presenting “Qualified Public Cultural Institution” and “Qualified Library” titles. The week commemorates Ferenc Kolcsey’s finalisation of the Hungarian national anthem’s manuscript on Jan 22, 1823, a date officially recognised as a national memorial day since 2022.

The expanded celebration reflects the government’s commitment to promoting Hungarian heritage and ensuring its accessibility to both local and global audiences.

Read also:

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