Summer festivals receive nearly EUR 1.6m from state

Budapest (MTI) – Hungary’s summer festivals are receiving a total of nearly 500 million forints (EUR 1.6m) state support this year, an official of the Ministry of Human Resources said on Friday.

State secretary Bence Rétvári told a press conference that the Sziget Festival in Budapest, the Volt Festival in Sopron in western Hungary and the Balaton Sound festival are getting a combined 150 million forints (EUR 476,000). Additionally, several festivals included in the Nagyon Balaton scheme are to receive a combined 337 million forints (EUR 1.1m), he said.

Hungary’s festivals generate around 10-12 percent of international tourism, resulting in an annual 100 billion forints (EUR 318m) revenues in the economy and jobs for locals, Rétvári said. Large festivals face serious competition internationally, so the government decided last year to reduce the VAT on festival tickets from 27 percent to 18 percent, he added.

He said state support for the Budapest Spring Festival and CAFe Budapest is to increase to 1.9 billion forints (EUR 6m) and the National Cultural Fund of Hungary is distributing a total of 300 million forints (EUR  953,000) to support cultural and gastronomic festivals that attract a large number of tourists.

Photo: MTI

Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters