Let’s celebrate the 150th birthday of Budapest! — programme guide

This weekend, our beloved Budapest turns 150 years old! The whole city will be buzzing with festivities. Let’s take a look and see what programmes the city has to offer to those who want to participate in the celebrations.

150th birthday

Photo: Unsplash / Mihály Köles

Merely 150 years ago, on the 17th of November in 1873, Pest, Buda and Óbuda officially unified to create Budapest. To celebrate, this weekend, Friday though Sunday, the whole city will be abuzz with exciting programmes, rtl.hu reports. Museums, theaters and many other institutions have prepared for this weekend, so there is bound to be something exciting for everybody!

Ceremonial general assembly, new walkway

On Friday, the Municipality of the Capital will hold a ceremonial general assembly at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA). During this assembly, the For Budapest award, the Pro Urbe Budapest award as well as the Budapest Honorary Citizenship recognitions will be presented to those who were awarded.

The Városháza (City Hall) is offering another array of interesting programmes. They will open their gates to those interested in strolling between the Károly boulevard and Városháza street. The new walkway will be lit up with a celebratory light installation making it that much more spectacular.

The Budapester, Heroes of Budapest

Nyugati Square, Budapest. Source: bkk.hu

In the courtyard of the Városháza, The Budapester art installation will finally be viewable. The Budapester was made by 151 Hungarian illustrators, each of whom illustrated a year and a significant event from the life of our lovely capital. The illustrations are a one-of-a-kind tribute to the illustrious history of  Budapest. Along with them, the Heroes of Budapest will also be presented. Those presented are hardworking employees of Budapest’s companies and were chosen by their colleagues to represent their company at this event. They show their work and talk about their job through posters.

The Vígszínház is also joining in the festivities: they will hold a celebratory gala night to close the Friday celebrations.

Don’t worry, because the fun doesn’t end on Friday: celebrating the city is a whole-weekend affair.

Cultural programmes: theatre, slam poetry

On Saturday, you can choose from a wide range of programmes. If you are open to cultural programmes, you can visit the reopened Merlin Theatre. Here, among others, there will be a theatre performance, installations and even a slam poetry night. These programmes are free, however, participation requires registration beforehand. For those interested, the Városháza is offering a ‘reading’ held by the TÁP Theatre. The reading will present the work of 23 contemporary authors who wrote the book titled Budapest’s Great Novel (Nagyregény) specifically for the 150th anniversary of Budapest.

Party tram, unlimited travel

Photo: BKK

Naturally, a birthday isn’t a real birthday without a party, and if anything, then a party is guaranteed in Budapest. You don’t need to go far for a blast, since in the evenings, Dj Palotai and Barabás Lőrinc provide the good mood in the courtyard of the Városháza. Among others, the Budapest Festival Orchestra is also preparing for this special event. There will also be a ‘party tram’, which will be available on the 49 line. This programme is also tied to registration, which you can do in the ÉnBudapestem (MyBudapest) application.

On the topic of public transport, BKK is also releasing special tickets in their application BudapestGO, priced at HUF 150 (we wrote about this HERE).

Films about Budapest

There are even programmes for those who don’t want to leave their house, since Filmio is making films about Budapest free for the weekend, such as ‘Budapest, amiért szeretem‘ (Budapest, why I love it) by István Szabó. This experimental movie ties eight shorts together and is marvellous to watch.

Another recommendation for a good watch is the birthday film made by Animatiqua studio, cut together from hundreds of old photos.

The Viber app is also joining the celebration, since they are releasing their new sticker package titled Budapest 150, with which you can express your love for the city.

Happy birthday Budapest!