Christmas in Budapest

This year is extra special: the Budapest Christmas Fair, held on Vörösmarty square, is celebrating its 10^th anniversary. The most popular winter event of the capital is organized by the Tourism Office of Budapest welcomes visitors on the most beautiful square of the capital.

The series of Advent and Christmas events lasting for over one month is one of the most popular programmes of the winter season, normally considered the off-peak time for tourism. The fair is not only the highlight of the Christmas preparation of local people but also the beautiful gem of the shopping trips of foreign tourists, visited by almost everybody who is in the capital at this time of the year. The Christmas Fair of Budapest is an excellent event, in itself it is the first motivation of the winter season, the Christmas shopping and the authentic festive feeling it gives to people, bringing an ever-increasing number of visitors: last year over 600 thousand people came to see it. Thanks to the promotions based on the events Budapest has become a hugely popular winter destination and its traditional Christmas Fair is now a well-known and respected event in Europe.

The Budapest Christmas Fair is considered to be amongst the most prestigious Christmas events of the continent, in 2006 the famous Travel & Leisure magazine selected it into the top 10 Christmas programs of Europe, while according to the international tourism website Expedia „it would be difficult to find a more authentic Christmas fair anywhere”. Almost all of the best travel guide books mention the Budapest Christmas fair as a program not to be missed. By now the event has grown so much that it has become famous further away too: recently it was the honour guest of the largest folk art festival of Canada. After visiting the most important Christmas fairs of Europe in 2006 and based on professional aspects finding the Budapest Christmas Fair to be the best, the artistic director of the festival sent a personal invitation to the Association of Hungarian Folk Artists, which is responsible for the quality of the craft products sold in Vörösmarty square.

One of the main attractions of the Budapest Christmas Fair is that it is organized especially to introduce Hungarian customs, traditional food and drink, folk arts and crafts and bands playing traditional and folk music.

The unique festive atmosphere is helped by the use of friendly wooden pavilions and the matchless array of products for sale offered by them: over 100 craft pavilions display traditional products, special gifts and folk art and craft objects judged and approved by the Association of Hungarian Folk Artists.

For visitors who have a taste for traditional gastronomic delights the city centre location of the fair is a real heaven: the smell of the fresh bread “lángos” baked in the traditional “Töki” clay oven, the stands of caramelised pastry horn makers, traditional country food baked in clay ovens, friendly meat grills attract anybody walking near the fair. If you like good mulled wine, you should also be there in the Vörösmarty square: after drinking it, you can take home the special mug it was served in: the “Christmas Fair Mug” gets a new design every year.

Should all this be not enough, visitors of the square are continuously entertained by a cavalcade of Hungarian folk music, folk dance, classical music, children’s programmes and concerts.

Thanks to the host pavilions, hot drinks, delicacies and stage performances on Vörösmarty square the Budapest Christmas Fair is more than just a folk art fair: it is a perfect program where visitors can spend longer time, an excellent, memorable event for friends and family to take part in. The beautiful scene, the shopping and eating opportunities, the stage performances and accompanying programs add up to the experience where every visitors can be part of a real festive Christmas holiday.

Apart from the huge Christmas tree on the square, the story-telling Nativity, the larger-than-life Advent wreath another essential part of the Budapest Christmas Fair is the Advent Calendar in the windows of the Gerbeaud house. From 1 to 24 December at exactly 5 o’clock in the afternoon another window of the calendar is opened, accompanied by beautiful chime music and festive wind-instrument pieces. All windows hide a stunning contemporary painting and these are unveiled for the sound of music and some special lighting effects.

The preparation for Christmas is the most important time of the year for families and children. The Budapest Christmas Fair is happy to welcome children on the square; not only the huge Christmas tree, the advent wreath, the musical calendar but also programs organized especially for them await even the smallest visitors.

The magical Nativity scene can be seen from 13 December, and on weekend mornings there are special children’s puppet theatre performances. This year once again there is an opportunity for getting to know the traditional gifts of old times, the way these were made; and in the heated children’s craft tent they can meet old and traditional professions on weekends from 10:00 to 18:00 and on weekdays from 15:00 to 18:00. Santa will visit children this year too; sitting on his chair at the corner of the Gerbeaud house he will warmly welcome children and their wishes from the smallest to the larger ones. Santa will be there on 6 and 7 December (Saturday and Sunday) from 10:00 to 13:00 and from 15:00 to 18:00.

One of the highlight of the Budapest Christmas Fair series of events has been the festive concert of piano artist Szilvia Kárászy and her guest performers. This year of will be held on 21 December at 18:00 in the Roosevelt-square Ballroom of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Amongst the guest performers will be the Solti Chamber Orchestra, László Tolcsvay and the Kiharang (Small Bell) Orchestra, conducted by Gyula Lajhó. At the end of the concert the award ceremony of the Golden Bell Award will be held, it is given to partially sighted or blind adults and children who achieve something extraordinary in their profession or complete an amazing humane deed.

The importance of the prize is mostly the respect and love it comes with, as well as the encouragement shared by both the winners and participants. The award can also help for others struggling with similar problems to believe in a life worth living for, believing in being able to live as a valued member of society and with their achievements gaining the respect and attention of other people. The stories of the award winners are also messages for sighted people: with endurance and the love of life and other people we can not only overcome the difficulties but we can also create something valuable and lasting. This year’s winner is László Ézsiás, an actor with special talent who appeared on the “VAGYOK” (“I am”) event in Székesfehérvár

The Budapest Christmas is honouring several anniversaries this year. It is the 10^th time this colourful, traditional, extremely popular event is held, enjoying the support of the capital as well as the National Culture Fund. To celebrate the 10^th anniversary the most successful performers of the Christmas fairs of the last years will perform on 7 December. But this year is even more special: not only the event is celebrating, but the city that gives home to it as well: Budapest is 135 years old this year. The exhibition recalling the past of the capital, called Budapest Anno will be opened in December, it can be seen in Vörösmarty square in the pavilion next to the statue. As part of the exhibition the award-wining artworks of old years Christams gifts a student competition for pupils of art schools will also be on display. For the anniversary of the unification of Pest-Buda-Óbuda Budapest remembers also with a Photoalbum, with the works of such an artists like Péter Korniss, Zsuzsa Schäffer or Gábor Fejér. The book called 135 years - 135 photos comes out at the end of November in 3000 copies, would also be found in the Tourinforms in Hungarian and in English as well.

source : Budapest Tourism Office