Public holidays in Hungary

Public holidays and special events in Hungary:

Fixed public holidays

Date	English Name	Local Name	Remarks
1 January	New Year's Day	Újév	A day of useful superstitions and new beginnings. Acconding to traditions, the lentil soup make people rich and rolling out strudel dough will guarantee long life. If somebody eat poultry on this day, his luck will fly away.
15 March	National Day	Nemzeti ünnep	Márciusi ifjak ("March youths"), memorial day of the 1848 Revolution. There are usually speeches and music pieces performed; several people wear a cockade with the national colours (red, white and green).
Moveable	Easter Sunday	Húsvétvasárnap	Good Friday work-free for Protestants.
Moveable	Easter Monday	Húsvéthétfő	Men visit women and ask for permission for sprinkling by reciting a little Easter poem, they sprinkle them with some perfume (or sometimes a bucket of cold water in the countryside), and they get eggs (mostly of chocolate) in exchange. Children get chocolate bunnies and eggs (from the Bunny), and sometimes fruits, nuts etc. as well. They sometimes have to look for these presents in the garden or in their room. (Living bunnies are not infrequent, either.) Mothers often prepare ham, eggs, and sweetbreads for dinner.
1 May	Labour day; anniversary of the accession to the EU	A munka ünnepe	The countries of the EU are represented with special programmes, bridges are decorated and exhibitions are arranged.
Moveable	Pentecost Sunday	Pünkösdvasárnap	Sunday, 50 days after Easter
Moveable	Pentecost Monday	Pünkösdhétfő	Monday after Pentecost
20 August	Saint Stephen's Day	Szent István ünnepe	St. Stephen's Day, Foundation of State, "the day of the new bread" as well. St. Stephen of Hungary (Szent István király in Hungarian) (ca. 975 – 15 August 1038), was the first king of Hungary. Celebrated with a huge half-hour fireworks display on the bank of the Danube in the evening, attended by millions of people.
23 October	National Day	Nemzeti ünnep	The day of the proclamation of the Third Hungarian Republic (since 1989), 1956 Revolution memorial day. Celebrated with speeches and exhibitions.
1 November	All Saints Day	Mindenszentek	It is a day to remember the lost ones. On this day people generally visit all their lost relatives' graves which they decorate with flowers.
25 December	Christmas	Karácsony	People buy (or make) presents for their relatives and friends in the preceding couple of weeks (so this period is the absolute boom of the year for most stores). Public transport stops operating at about 4 p.m on the 24th ("Szenteste"). Families reunite and people prepare their (labelled) presents under the Christmas tree. It is made of a fir which is decorated by one or two people in the family so nobody else can see it before they signal with a little bell for the rest to come in. The family sings Christmas songs together and everyone unwraps their presents. On 25th and the 26th, people usually visit their relatives (e.g. aunts, uncles and grandparents) and exchange presents.
26 December	Second Day of Christmas	Karácsony másnapja

Remembrance days endorsed by the state

Remembrance Days are working days in Hungary.

Date	English Name	Local Name	Remarks
1 February	Memorial Day of the Republic	A köztársaság emléknapja	Commemorating the law (1946. évi I. törvény) on the proclamation of the republic in 1946, memorial day since 2006.
25 February	Memorial Day for the Victims of the Communist Dictatorships	A kommunista diktatúrák áldozatainak emléknapja	On this day in 1947 Béla Kovács, Secretary-General of the Independent Smallholders' Party was arrested and deported to the Soviet Union. Memorial day since 2000, commemorations are held in high schools.
16 April	Memorial Day for the Victims of the Holocaust	A holokauszt áldozatainak emléknapja	On this day in 1944 the Jews of Subcarpathia were rounded up and forced into ghettos. Memorial day since 2001, commemorations are held in high schools.
4 June	Day of National Unity	A nemzeti összetartozás napja	Commemorating the anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Trianon, when the Kingdom of Hungary lost 72% of its territory. National memorial day since 2010.
19 June	Day of the Independent Hungary	A független Magyarország napja	Commemorating the execution of the martyrs of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution (on 16 June 1958), and the anniversary of the end of the Soviet occupation of Hungary. Memorial day since 2001.
6 October	Memorial Day for the Martyrs of Arad	Az aradi vértanúk emléknapja	Commemorating the anniversary of the execution of the 13 Martyrs of Arad. National memorial day, commemorations are held in high schools.

Holidays not endorsed by the state

Date	English Name	Local Name	Remarks
6 December	Santa Claus, Saint Nicholas Day	Mikulás, Télapó	On this day, every Hungarian child polishes their boots and puts them in the window. Mikulás comes in the night to fill them with various chocolate pieces. If they were bad, they might get rods exclusively or beside their presents.
31 December	New Year's Eve	Szilveszter	Young people go partying until morning. Streets are noisy with paper trumpets, hoots and champagne cracks; people often wear masks and throw petards. Those who stay home usually watch the comedies made for this occasion; at midnight they drink champagne and wish each other good luck for the new year. National television channels broadcast the orchestral and choral national anthem at midnight, and then the speech of the current President. After midnight they often use fireworks. With these finished, further comedies and various movies follow. The next day streets are as empty as ever, and people sleep long (or sleep themselves sober).
Moveable	Carnival	Farsang	A six day regional carnival, originally celebrated by the Šokci (ethnic-Croatians) living in the town of Mohács. Traditions include folk music, masquerading, parades and dancing.

Special events

Hungary's most outstanding annual events include the Budapest Spring Festival (mid-march to mid-April), Hortobágy Equestrian Days (late June), Sopron Early Music Days (late June), Festival in Budapest (late June), Miskolc Opera Festival (late June), Miskolc Kalálka International Folk Festival (July), Győr Summer Festival (late June), Győr Summer Cultural Festival (late June to late July), Pannon Festival in Pécs (July and August), Szentendre Summer Festival (July), Kőszeg Street Theatre Festival (late July), Savaria International Dance Competition in Szombathely (July), Debrecen Jazz Days (July), Szeged Open Air Festival (mid-July to August), Diáksziget (shorter: "Sziget" or "Sziget Festival", Student Island or Pepsi Island) north of Budapest (August), Eger Wine Harvest Festival (September), and Budapest Autumn Arts Festival (mid-September to mid-October).

St Stephen's Day (August 20) is celebrated with sporting events, parades and fireworks nationwide. On the same day there is a Floral Festival in Debrecen and a Bridge Fair in nearby Hortobágy. Formula 1 car races are held in early August at the Hungaroring near Mogyoród, 18 km northeast of Budapest.

Budapest events

Month	Event name	Date	Type
MARCH	The Spring Uprising	15 Mar	A public holiday marks the day in 1848 when the youth of Buda, led by the poet Sándor Petőfi, rebelled against the Habsburg occupation of Hungary, Thousands of people take to the streets to lay wreaths and light eternal flames, wearing the national colours of red, white and green. There are speeches and street theatre, especially in front of the Hungarian National Museum.
MARCH	Spring Festival	the last two weeks of Mar-mid. Apr.	Top national and international musicans gather for several weeks of music and dance in churches and concert halls all over Budapest. The emphasis of the festival is on the classical tradition, but also in evidence are hungarian folk music and dance, as well as pop and jazz.
APRIL	World Dance Festival	end of April	The National Dance Theatre and the Association of Hungarian Dance Artists organize this festival every year, with participation from top Hungarian dance groups and foreign guest artists. Castle Theatre, Erkel Theatre, the Light Opera Theatre and the Hungarian State Opera House hold the events.
APRIL	Horse Racing	Sundays Apr-Oct.	April sees the beginning of the flat-racing season. Place your bets at the busy and charmingly down-at-heel Kincsem Park race course on Albertirsai út.
MAY	May Day	1 May	No longer a compulsory display of patriotism, May Day celebrations take place in public parks all over the city and involve craft markets, street performers and sausage and beer tents. A dip in the local thermal bath or swimming pool is another popular May Day activity.
MAY	Concerts in St Stephen's Basilica	May-Oct	Thursday evening organ concerts in the city's largest church provide a perfect opportunity to study the lavish interior decoration of this extraordinary building.
JUNE	Open-Air Theatre Festival	Jun-Aug	Margaret and Óbuda Islands provide two of the major venues for this summer-long, open-air arts festival.
JUNE	Budapesti Búcsú	last weekend in Jun	A mixture of music, dance and theatre celebrates the departure from Hungary of Soviet troops in 1991.
JULY	Hungarian Grand Prix	end of July	The biggest event in the Hungarian sporting calendar takes place east of the city, at Mogyoród race track.
JULY	Chain Bridge Festival	weekends of Jul-Aug	A lively series of free events including concerts and dance, traditional arts and crafts, street theatre, parades and activities for children.
JULY	Budapest Summer Opera and Ballet Festival	Jul or Aug	Look out for the ten-day serier of shows that makes up the summer season at the Hungarian State Opera House.
AUGUST	St István's Day	20 Aug	St István, the patron saint of Hungary, is celebrated with mass in St Stephen's Basilica followed by a huge procession. The day ends with fireworks on Gellért Hill and along the Danube.
AUGUST	Sziget Festival	Aug	Ten stages and a camp site are set up on Óbuda Island for this popular week-long festival of rock, folk and jazz.
SEPTEMBER	Budapest Wine Festival	2nd week of Sept	After the late-August grape harvest, wine makers set up their stalls for wine tastings and folk dancing on Buda's Castle Hill and in sqares around the city.
OCTOBER	Spar Budapest International Marathon and Running Festival	Oct	There is a marathon, a relay race, a mini-marathon and a family running competition for participants. Concerts and events are held for spectators.
OCTOBER	Autumn Festival	middle of Oct.	Several weeks of contemporary film, dance and theatre at venues across the city.
NOVEMBER	Budapest Christmas Fair	26 Nov- 24 Dec.	The Budapest Christmas Market transforms Vörösmarty Square into a festive marketplace, where Hungarian artists and craftsmen display their work and national dishes are served.
JANUARY	New Year's Gala Concert	1 Jan	This cheerfuloccasion is an excellent way to start the new year. Outstandings Hungarian and foreign artists perform excerpts from European opera and musicals, providing a lively evening of music.
FEBRUARY	Hungarian Film Festival	early Febr.	This two-day celebration of Hungarian film has been run by the Magyar Filmszemle since 1969, to attract funding to a hard-pressed industry. Many films are subtitled.
FEBRUARY	Masked-Ball Season	Febr.	Budapest forgets the cold weather to welcome the coming spring, and the arrival of the farsang, fancy dreass masked-ball season. The climax of the season is the spectacular Opera Ball and a masked procession, on the last Saturday and Sunday before Lent, respectively.

Budapest Spring Festival

Budapest, Opera House

Designed to fit the needs of Budapest's cultural heritage and its requirements as a modern Central European centre, this metropolitan festival was instituted in 1981. By presenting and disseminating cultural assets it boosts the city's image and encourages dynamic development of its cultural tourism. This "festival of festivals", traditionally covering a range of artistic fields, presents a series of homogeneous artistic activities to which international professional symposia are linked. The Budapest Spring Festival takes place in the last two weeks of March. Its main emphasis is on those symphony orchestra concerts, opera and ballet performances which will appeal to the widest audience, but the program also includes open-air events and an Operetta Festival. The performances take place in the capital's most important concert halls and theatres, and often near historic monuments. Over the years a number of regional towns have been included in the Budapest Spring Festival - Debrecen, Gödöllő, Győr, Kaposvár, Kecskemét, Sopron, Szentendre and Szombathely - and thus it has more or less expanded into a national festival. The list of events always includes renowned foreign guests as well as distinguished artists and groups from the Hungarian musical life. Highlights include classical concerts, productions at the Opera House, open air events, the Operetta Festival, the Dance House Convention, the Dance Panorama, and what are considered to be the real treat, the exhibitions.

Haydn Festival in Eszterháza

Palace of Eszterháza

Haydn at Eszterháza: During its first quarter century, the palace was the primary home of the celebrated composer Joseph Haydn, who wrote the majority of his symphonies for the Prince's orchestra. Starting in 1768, the theater was a major venue for opera, often with more than a hundred performances per year. The palace was geographically isolated, a factor which led to loneliness and tedium among the musicians. This is seen in some of Haydn's letters, as well as in the famous tale of the Farewell Symphony

The basic aim of the festival is to evoke the musical paradise that Eszterháza was in Haydn's time, within the original walls, with the help of period instruments and performing practice. The programmes focus mainly on the works composed during the Eszterháza period of Haydn's creative life, and among these, on compositions belonging to the most important genres (symphonies, string quartets, keyboard sonatas and trios). In addition, however, the concert programmes regularly include works by the "unknown Haydn" (baryton pieces, rarely heard church compositions, wind divertimenti, etc.). The festival aims to provide opportunities for the world's most outstanding Haydn performers to meet here, to gain inspiration from the atmosphere and acoustics of the place, and to inspire one another through shared music-making. The majority of the performers play only compositions by Joseph Haydn, but also in exceptional cases other works closely connected, either directly or through their composers, with Haydn, Eszterháza or the family of the Esterházy princes - such as, for example, the string quartets dedicated to Haydn by Mozart, and certain pieces by Michael Haydn (the composer's younger brother), Luigi Tomasini (leader of the Eszterháza orchestra) and others. The venue for most of the concerts is the enchantingly beautiful ceremonial hall of the palace, which has superb acoustics. Some of the more intimate, solistic performances are given in the sala terrena, the central hall of the original, smaller, Renaissance hunting palace. Some concerts of church music take place in one or other of the churches in the nearby villages.

File:Galeria bynight 17.jpg

Győr centre

Győr Summer Festival

This festival is held annually, from the second week in June to the second week in July. The Győr Summer International Cultural Festival, which displays Győr's cultural heritage, has a history of over three decades. The list of events, which covers a wide range of genres, is based on a series of separate activities. Every year, for a month in June and July, the Baroque decorations of the city centre, its atmospheric courtyards and the banks of the Rába river are home to the International Ballet Festival, the International Puppet and Street Theatre Convention, the International Folk Dancing and Folk Music Festival, and the International Handcraft Fair and Exhibition. In addition to the performances of the hosts - the Győr Ballet, the Győr National Theatre, and the Győr Philharmonic Orchestra - visitors can also see those of the visiting theatre companies and musical groups.