What's on: Budapest & Hungary
Every date below is checked against the event's own official site, not a years-old listicle. Updated daily; "expected" means the annual event is a safe bet but this edition's dates aren't announced yet.
Running now
- The Treasures of King Louis I (the Great) of Hungaryuntil 31 Dec · Exhibitions
- Black Mirror. The Long Shadow of the Futureuntil 11 Oct · Exhibitions
- Rituals of Beauty: Body Decoration in the Amazonuntil 4 Jan · Exhibitions
- Az örökkévalóság megörökítése (Capturing Eternity)until 25 Oct · Exhibitions
- Akvárium Klub Autumn Programuntil 20 Nov · Music
- Recirquel: Walk My Worlduntil 31 Oct · Theatre
- 26. ARC közérzeti kiállítás (ARC Open-Air Exhibition)until 18 Oct · Culture
- World Press Photo Exhibition 2026until 8 Nov · Exhibitions
- Walk This Way. The Art of Walkinguntil 31 Jan · Exhibitions
Heads-ups for your dates
This week
Országos Étterem Hét (National Restaurant Week)
DiningCity's autumn restaurant week runs a fixed-price tasting menu promotion at more than 160 restaurants in and around Budapest (plus Debrecen, Miskolc, Szeged, Győr and Lake Balaton): three-course TOP menus from 6,900 Ft, DiningCity-star premium menus from 8,900 Ft, two-star exclusive menus from 10,900 Ft, and 3-5 course tasting menus from Michelin-starred, Michelin-recommended or Bib Gourmand kitchens from 17,900 Ft. Booking is free but mandatory, online only, at etteremhet.hu.
Official site ↗Spinoza Jewish Festival (Spinoza Zsidó Fesztivál)
The 24th Spinoza Jewish Festival fills the Spinoza Színház for two weeks with theatre premieres, concerts, films and talks, one programme nearly every day, most of them at 19:00. For visitors the concerts are the easiest way in: Klein Judit and the Haverim on 9 October and the Sabbathsong Klezmer Band on 16 October.
Official site ↗Liszt Fest International Cultural Festival
Müpa's flagship autumn festival brings international orchestras, contemporary dance and world music to the riverside concert hall over more than two weeks. Programming spans well beyond Liszt himself, so check the full lineup.
Official site ↗Füge Feszt (Fig Festival)
Lake Balaton's autumn food festival on the Badacsony beach: three days with more than 35 exhibitors, jazz and pop concerts on the main stage and cooking workshops.
Official site ↗SPAR Budapest Marathon Weekend
The 41st marathon weekend is based at Pázmány Péter sétány by ELTE's Lágymányos campus. Saturday has the 5 km Minimaraton at 10:45; on Sunday the marathon and relays start at 9:00 and the 30 km leaves Fővám tér in waves from 9:40. The marathon crosses the Lánchíd, the Szabadság híd and the Árpád híd, takes in Margitsziget and turns just before the Oktogon on Andrássy út. Closure times are not out yet: expect closures along the course on race weekend, around the Buda embankment on Saturday and by the Danube and on those bridges on Sunday, and check BKK's notices in the days before the race.
Official site ↗Autumn Etyek Picnic (Őszi Etyeki Piknik)
The wine village of Etyek opens its cellars and courtyards along the Gasztrosétány for a weekend of local wine, food stalls and small music stages spread across the wineries, which this year replace the single big picnic stage. Entry needs a picnic ticket bought online, valid from 11:00 on Saturday to 18:00 on Sunday for the two-day pass; the first rounds of two-day passes have already sold out.
Official site ↗Stephanus International Organ Festival (St Stephen's Basilica)
Four evening concerts on the restored grand organ of St Stephen's Basilica, all at 20:00: Saturday 10 October (opening night with András Gábor Virágh, Gábor Szotyori Nagy and András Virágh), Monday 12 October (Péter Kővári, Baroque and Romantic organ works), Saturday 24 October (Erzsébet Áchim) and Saturday 31 October (Róbert Kovács, written music and improvisation). Tickets are 7,500 Ft, or 4,500 Ft for students and seniors.
Official site ↗Meladze
Veteran pop singer Valerij Meladze brings his 2026 European tour to the arena, mixing greatest hits with new songs.
Official site ↗Art Market Budapest
Central and Eastern Europe's leading international contemporary art fair, at MTK Sportpark this year. Doors open at 11:00 on each of the four days.
Official site ↗Molière. L'Opéra Urbain
A French touring production stages the playwright's life as a modern arena spectacle, blending 17th-century story with contemporary staging and music. Performed in French, but built as a visual spectacle first.
Official site ↗Tosca
Puccini's Tosca stays in the Hungarian State Opera's repertoire this season, with performances running from October into November. A reliable pick if you want an opera night without committing to a single one-off premiere.
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Next week
Night of the Power Plants (Erőművek Éjszakája)
More than 80 power plants, waterworks and utility sites across Hungary open their gates for expert-led tours, organised by the national energy regulator. In Budapest the Csepel gas-turbine power plant opens its turbine hall, boiler houses and central control room. Entry is free with advance registration on eromuvekejszakaja.hu.
Official site ↗André Rieu 2026
The Dutch violinist and his Johann Strauss Orchestra play two nights at MVM Dome, waltzes and crowd singalongs in an arena built for spectacle.
Official site ↗Liszt Birthday Festival at the Liszt Memorial Museum
Three concerts for Liszt's birthday in the chamber hall of the Old Music Academy, the building where Liszt himself lived. Fri 16 Oct, 18:00: Fülöp Ránki plays an all-Liszt programme. Sat 17 Oct, 11:00: Alexander Kaspurin, winner of the 2026 Utrecht Liszt competition, plays all twelve Transcendental Études in one sitting. Sat 17 Oct, 18:00: baritone Peter Edelmann and pianist Gábor Farkas perform Schubert's Winterreise. Tickets 4,000 Ft, 2,000 Ft for students and seniors.
Official site ↗56/70: 1956 filmre írva (1956 film festival)
For the 70th anniversary of the 1956 revolution, 56Films holds a three-day festival of documentaries and selected feature films at the historic Corvin cinema, whose courtyard was a centre of armed resistance in 1956, with talks with the filmmakers after the screenings.
Official site ↗Háry János Centennial at the Hungarian State Opera
Kodály's folk opera returns to the Opera House a hundred years after its 1926 premiere, staged as the centerpiece of the 2026/2027 season. Sung in Hungarian, but the music and the restored Ybl-designed house carry the evening on their own.
Official site ↗Cheese Budapest
A new cheese event makes its debut in the Rákóczi tér market hall, built around Hungarian artisan cheesemakers, with raclette and a cheese market on the floor. Three ticketed tastings run in the event hall between 16:00 and 21:00, pairing cheese with craft beer, fermented drinks and wine; they are pre-sale only, and the organisers suggest one tasting per person.
Official site ↗MOL Campus Tower Run
A charity stair race up the 120-metre tower of MOL Campus. Public waves start at 12:00 (under 40) and 13:00 (over 40), and a panoramic lift brings runners back down. Entry is 3,000 Ft, online only, with no on-site registration, and the fees go to the Vigyél Haza Alapítvány.
Official site ↗The Next 30
A short-run exhibition at the Ludwig Museum marking a milestone in the museum's collection, up for six days only.
Official site ↗Lumina Park
The region's largest light park returns to Budapest in a new home at the Palatinus Strand on Margaret Island, open most nights from October 20 through March 7, 2027. This year's theme is Alice in Wonderland, with more than 200 light installations along a 1.5 km trail among the baths' pools and trees. Closed Mondays (except December 28 and January 4), and closed November 1 and December 24. This is a separate light show from ELTE Füvészkert's Garden of Lights, which opens three days later on the other side of town.
Official site ↗Elhivatottak (The Called): Hungarian Women Artists in the First Half of the 20th Century
More than 130 works by 60 Hungarian women artists made between 1900 and 1950, from Anna Margit, Valéria Dénes, Noémi Ferenczy and Margit Gráber to Judit Reigl and Anna Beöthy-Steiner, alongside names that have largely been forgotten. The gallery calls it the first large survey of the subject in a Hungarian museum. Part of the Liszt Ünnep festival. Open Tuesday to Sunday 10:00 to 18:00, last entry 17:00.
Official site ↗Liszt: Christus
Liszt Fest's final evening: Liszt's oratorio Christus at the Béla Bartók National Concert Hall, a festival production conducted by Gergely Kesselyák with the Hungarian National Choir and the Pannon Philharmonic.
Official site ↗Csabai Kolbászfesztivál (Csaba Sausage Festival)
Hungary's best-known sausage festival, built around the protected csabai kolbász, with sausage-making contests, pig-slaughter demonstrations and concerts filling CsabaPark for four days. Plan it as an overnight trip, Békéscsaba is over two hours southeast of Budapest by train.
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October 2026
Kolonics György Memorial Run
A memorial run and dragon-boat day on Népsziget honoring Kolonics György, Hungary's two-time Olympic and fifteen-time world champion canoeist, who died suddenly in training in 2008. Runners choose a beginner or experienced distance, and dragon-boat paddling is also on offer for groups. Online registration closes October 16. Cars are banned on Népsziget that day; park free at Duna Pláza and cross the footbridge.
Official site ↗'56 in the Countryside at the Skanzen ('56 vidéken)
For the 70th anniversary of the 1956 revolution, the open-air museum in Szentendre spends the national holiday, Friday 23 October, on how the uprising played out in villages and small towns: living history scenes among the old houses of the Upland Market Town section, a guided tour on the revolution in the countryside at 13:00 (in Hungarian), crafts and period games for children, and a re-enactors' display with vehicles from the time. Open 9:00 to 17:00.
Official site ↗Garden of Lights
The Füvészkert's Garden of Lights light show, in its final season, runs October 23 to January 3, themed Beauty and the Beast this year. Open Monday to Thursday and Sunday 17:00-20:00, Friday-Saturday 17:00-21:00, closed December 23-24.
Official site ↗The World of Hans Zimmer
A live orchestral tribute to the film composer's biggest scores, from Inception to The Lion King, fills MVM Dome for one night.
Official site ↗Alphaville
The German new wave band behind Forever Young and Big in Japan plays MVM Dome.
Official site ↗Halloween Evening at Budapest Zoo
After normal closing on Friday 30 Oct the zoo reopens from 18:00 to 23:00 for a family Halloween evening: night-time animal talks with snakes and other creepy-crawlies, fire-juggling and LED shows, and a witches' hut. Day tickets and passes are not valid; it needs its own ticket, 5,900 Ft for adults and 4,200 Ft for children, students and seniors. The ticket desks and entry close at 21:00, and at most 7,000 people are let in at once.
Official site ↗Bonjour Monsieur Gauguin
The Museum of Fine Arts' big autumn and winter exhibition, built around Paul Gauguin, in the ground-floor temporary exhibition hall. Allow about an hour and a half. Full tickets cost 6,800 Ft on weekdays and 7,800 Ft at weekends, reduced 3,400 and 3,900 Ft.
Official site ↗Boris Brejcha
The German techno DJ known for his masked stage persona headlines a Halloween-dated show at MVM Dome.
Official site ↗Harlem Globetrotters: The 100 Year Tour
The show basketball team brings its centennial tour to Budapest, facing its old rivals the Washington Generals in the new anniversary jersey. Start 19:00. A family evening of trick shots and slam dunks. The Magic Pass lets fans meet the players before the game, and the 5th Quarter after it is for autographs.
Official site ↗Jozef van Wissem plays Nosferatu
On Halloween night at 20:30, Dutch lutenist and composer Jozef van Wissem plays his own score live to F. W. Murnau's 1922 silent film Nosferatu at the Toldi cinema. He wrote the music in 2019 for the Cinémathèque française in Paris; he is also known for his work with Jim Jarmusch on the Only Lovers Left Alive soundtrack.
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November 2026
Kuplung
The Hungarian rock band plays two consecutive arena nights, its first headline run at this scale.
Official site ↗The Witcher in Concert
An orchestra and choir perform the game series' score live at MVM Dome, with scenes projected behind them.
Official site ↗The Klezmatics: We Were Made For These Times
The Grammy-winning klezmer band brings its 2026 tour to the Béla Bartók National Concert Hall for one night, mixing traditional Yiddish repertoire with their own political songwriting.
Official site ↗Jodok Cello
The barefoot Swiss crossover cellist brings his world tour to the arena with an audiovisual light show: songs by Bruno Mars, Coldplay, David Guetta, Hans Zimmer and Ludovico Einaudi rearranged for cello. Start 20:00.
Official site ↗Branford Marsalis & Dianne Reeves: Celebrate John Coltrane
Two major American jazz names share the stage at the Béla Bartók National Concert Hall for a John Coltrane centenary tribute, part of Müpa's wider jazz season built around the anniversary.
Official site ↗Placebo
The British alt-rock band returns to Budapest after ten years, marking 30 years since their debut album with a career-spanning set.
Official site ↗Vörösmarty Classic Xmas (Budapest Christmas Fair, Vörösmarty tér)
The Christmas fair on Vörösmarty tér opens on Friday 13 November 2026: Monday to Thursday and Sunday 11:00-21:00, Friday and Saturday 11:00-22:00, 24 December 10:00-14:00, 25 and 26 December 12:00-18:00. The craft stalls and the little train run until 28 December, the square is open 11:00-21:00 on 29 and 30 December, and New Year's Eve runs 11:00 to 03:00.
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Photo: Vörösmarty Classic Xmas · 2025 market (archive) 
Photo: Vörösmarty Classic Xmas · 2025 market (archive) Advent Bazilika (Christmas Market at St. Stephen's Basilica)
The Christmas market on Szent István tér, in front of St Stephen's Basilica, opens on Friday 13 November 2026 and runs to 1 January 2027: Monday to Thursday and Sunday 11:00-22:00, Friday and Saturday 11:00-23:00, 24 December 11:00-15:00, 25 and 26 December 11:00-20:00, New Year's Eve 11:00 to 03:00 and 1 January 11:00-18:00. The organiser lists nearly a hundred craft exhibitors and a giant Christmas tree on the square.
Official site ↗AWS 20 X Madách
AWS marks two decades together with what the band bills as its biggest arena show yet, a one-night 20th-anniversary concert at Papp László Budapest Sportaréna. Sung in Hungarian, but arena-scale, and the anniversary framing makes it likely to sell out.
Official site ↗Thomas Anders
The Modern Talking co-founder brings his 80s hits to MVM Dome for one night.
Official site ↗St Martin's New Wine Festival and Goose Feast at the Skanzen
The Szentendre open-air museum marks St Martin's Day over the weekend of 14 and 15 November with new-wine tastings, goose dishes and concerts in the courtyards of its old farmhouses, plus crafts, games and a lantern procession. It closes the museum's Autumn Festival of Museums; the detailed programme is still to come on the museum's site.
Official site ↗Carmen
Calixto Bieito's staging of Bizet's Carmen, moved from 19th-century Seville to post-Franco Spain, returns for eight performances. Sung in French with Hungarian, English and French surtitles; evenings start at 18:00, and the 21 and 29 November shows are 11:00 matinees. The Opera does not recommend it for children under 16.
Official site ↗Nixon in China (John Adams)
John Adams' opera about Nixon's visit to China, staged by András Almási-Tóth in the Hungarian State Opera's converted railway workshop. Sung in English with Hungarian and English surtitles, three performances at 18:30 on 20, 22 and 24 November. Not recommended for under-16s.
Official site ↗The Nutcracker (Hungarian National Ballet)
Wayne Eagling and Tamás Solymosi's Nutcracker, in the Opera House repertoire since its 2015 premiere, is the house's Christmas ballet, with the first public performance on 20 November at 19:00 and the last on 10 January. Matinees and evening shows alternate, and several days carry both, 31 December among them at 13:00 and 21:00. Tickets are on sale on the Opera's site.
Official site ↗Sarah Brightman: A Winter Symphony
The soprano's new holiday show brings orchestra and choir to the MVM Dome for one night, mixing Christmas classics with her greatest hits.
Official site ↗Pitbull: I'm Back!
Pitbull returns to Budapest for a fall show at the MVM Dome, a second Budapest date after his summer Puskás Aréna concert sold out.
Official site ↗Smokie
The British soft-rock band behind "Living Next Door to Alice" plays the arena on its Legacy Tour.
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December 2026
Recirquel: Kristály, a winter circus tale (Millenáris)
Recirquel brings back a renewed version of its winter new-circus fairy tale, staged by Müpa in the Millenáris Glass Hall: a world frozen in ice that the performers and the audience thaw together. The show moves through the hall and you move with it, so every ticket is standing. Shows run Friday to Sunday on 4 to 6 and 11 to 13 December, then daily on 18 to 22 and 26 to 31 December, two or three a day, each about an hour. Tickets are 4,500 to 7,500 Ft, from age 6.
Official site ↗La Bohème
Puccini's La Bohème in Kálmán Nádasdy's production, in the Opera's repertoire since 1937 with nearly 1,000 performances so far, returns for the holidays. Sung in Italian with Hungarian, English and Italian surtitles; evening shows at 18:30, including Christmas Day, with matinees on 23 December and 10 January.
Official site ↗Bryan Adams: Roll with the Punches
Bryan Adams brings his Roll with the Punches tour to the MVM Dome for one night. A reliable arena show if you want a big international name without the Budapest Park summer-festival crowds.
Official site ↗José Carreras
The Spanish tenor, one of the original Three Tenors, gives a Christmas-season concert at MVM Dome.
Official site ↗Kincsem Park New Year's Eve Trotting Festival (Ügetőszilveszter)
Budapest's biggest open-air New Year's Eve gathering has run at the Kincsem Park racetrack for over two decades, mixing trotting races with live entertainment and a midnight countdown. The 2026 edition is not yet posted on the venue site, so program details are pending.
Official site ↗HELLO 2027 New Year's Eve Festival
A new New Year's Eve festival at MVM Dome from the team behind STRAND Festival, with live concerts from 18:00 on 31 December into the early hours. Beton.Hofi plays five minutes after midnight, straight after the national anthem. Presale opens 9 October at 08:00.
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January 2027
New Year's at the Opera: Beethoven 9
The Opera House opens the year with a concert built around Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, at 20:00 on 1 and 3 January. On 1 January only Royal Box seats are on sale.
Official site ↗Manowar
The American heavy metal band returns to Budapest after 25 years, playing the Fighting the World album in full plus additional anthems.
Official site ↗MICHAEL: The Show Is Mine (Michael Jackson tribute production)
A licensed touring tribute production recreates Michael Jackson's stage show at the MVM Dome, with input from some of his former collaborators. Not the artist himself, but a large-scale, well-reviewed tribute worth knowing about if the real thing is what you're picturing.
Official site ↗WWE Road to Royal Rumble
WWE brings a live Road to Royal Rumble show to MVM Dome, part of the promotion's European tour ahead of the January pay-per-view.
Official site ↗Roby Lakatos & Hollywood Orchestra
The virtuoso violinist and his orchestra play songs that made history, from Bella Ciao and Imagine to Over the Rainbow and What a Wonderful World, with archive footage telling the stories behind them. Special guests János Bródy and Mariann Falusi. Doors 18:00, start 19:00.
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February 2027
Superenduro GP of Hungary 2027
The FIM Superenduro World Championship stops at MVM Dome for an indoor round of the off-road motorcycle series.
Official site ↗Bullet For My Valentine + Pendulum
The Welsh metal band brings its Social Apocalypse 2027 Tour to the arena with Pendulum as very special guest. Start 18:30, tickets from 22,200 Ft.
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March 2027
Cirque du Soleil - OVO
Cirque du Soleil's insect-themed acrobatic show OVO plays four nights at MVM Dome.
Official site ↗Jimmy Carr: Laughs Funny
The British comedian brings his one-liner show to the Budapest Arena, in English with no translation. The ticket page warns that the dark humour is not for everyone. Start 19:30.
Official site ↗Loreena McKennitt: The Mask and Mirror
The Canadian singer and songwriter returns to Hungary on her 30-date European tour marking 30 years of The Mask and Mirror.
Official site ↗KALEO: Way Down We Go Tour
The Icelandic rock band marks ten years of its debut album A/B, the one with Way Down We Go, All The Pretty Girls and No Good. Start 19:30.
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April 2027
A Night About John Williams
A tribute concert to the film composer behind Star Wars, Harry Potter and Jurassic Park, played by the Danube Symphony Orchestra with a live choir.
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May 2027
Sabaton
The Swedish power metal band known for its history-themed anthems headlines MVM Dome.
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June 2027
Roger Waters presents LEGACY, a Pink Floyd show by the Harry Waters Band
A new live production of Pink Floyd's 1971 to 1979 music, created under the direction of Roger Waters and performed by the Harry Waters Band, led by his son Harry Waters. One show only at the Budapest Arena, start 20:00.
Official site ↗Rod Stewart: The Final Encore
Rod Stewart plays the Budapest Arena on The Final Encore, which the promoter calls his final tour, with Maggie May, Sailing and Da Ya Think I'm Sexy? on the set list. Start 19:00; general sale opened on 2 October 2026.
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July 2027
Slash feat. Myles Kennedy and The Conspirators
The Guns N' Roses guitarist brings his solo band, fronted by Myles Kennedy, to Budapest Park on the Flying Blind World Tour 2027, playing songs from the new album Flying Blind. Start 19:00.
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August 2027
Sziget Festival
Europe's island mega-festival returns to Óbudai-sziget for five days in 2027. Five-day passes are already on sale, 349 euros plus a 23-euro handling fee, and 279 euros plus an 18-euro handling fee for 21 and under.
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October 2027
Nothing matches that filter. Budapest disagrees with your plans; loosen one.
A cheap evening in Budapest
Free
- Fisherman's BastionThe upper towers stop charging at 19:00, and the lower terraces are free around the clock.Full guide →
Up to 2,500 Ft
- Szimpla KertA beer at the city's most famous ruin bar costs 2,200-2,500 Ft.Full guide →
Up to 5,000 Ft
- Budapest EyeA standard ride for anyone 12 and over costs 4,900 Ft.Full guide →
Calendar checked daily; last full pass: 2026-10-09.