Events: What's on in Budapest

The award-winning images showcased as part of the global World Press Photo exhibition tell stories of war, social conflict, the climate crisis and human struggle. The selection on display in the foyer of the Biodome at Budapest Zoo offers an opportunity rarely found when scrolling through news feeds on your phone, the chance to linger over individual stories and—with the help of captions—look beyond the visual surface.

The Budapest stop of the tour is complemented by two Hungarian exhibitions: Fel is út, le is út ('Up is Road, Down is Road') shows photos taken by 24.hu photojournalists during the 2026 election, while Sortűz 1956 ('Volley of Fire 1956') revisits the 1956 Uprising through the photographs of Sándor Bojár.

Now in its third edition, BIFF – the Budapest International Film Festival – offers nine days of outstanding cinema, mainly at the Corvin on the Nagykörút. The schedule includes Lili Horvát’s first English-language feature, My Notes on Mars, the latest by Hungarian Oscar winner László Nemes, Moulin, focusing on the French Résistance, and Radu Jude’s The Diary of a Chambermaid, bringing social satire to the opening gala. Look out, too, for the screening of Terrence Mallick's epic Days of Heaven in 4K restoration on October 29, and La bola negra by Cannes-winning directors Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi. Tickets go on sale from October 6, with early-bird discounts.

Masked mystery musician Milo Korbenski plays Budapest for the first time, bringing his lo-fi art-pop, raw indie and catchy melodies to the small hall of the Dürer Kert. A true auteur, Korbenski has recorded, designed and self-released a number of albums for Brighton-based label Phantom Limb. His most raucous release, When you Gonna Tell 'Em the Truth, Aaron?, will surely be given a run-out here, showcasing his catchy hooks, savvy wordplay and minimalist instrumentation. Listen out, too, for tunes from Korbenski’s most recent offering, Sex Angel, released in 2025, surreal, melancholic and intimate.

The Győr Ballet company presents a three-act production of original contemporary dance, including an interpretation of Ravel's Boléro, over two nights at the National Dance Theatre, one in October and one in November. The whole 110-minute show delves into questions of identity and spirituality. Choreographed by Adél Bálint, Krisztina Szőllősi and László Velekei respectively.

It's been 30 years since Placebo released their self-titled debut album, giving the London band the excuse to repackage this breakthrough work as RE:CREATED and take off on an anniversary tour. With a set list focusing on songs from their first two LPs, Brian Molko and his band return to Budapest after ten years, treading the boards of the Papp László Budapest Sportaréna on November 13.

For two nights, Hungexpo will be the centre of Budapest’s electronic music scene as the Bónusz festival takes over the huge event venue on November 13–14. Friday features Dubfire, Len Faki, Nico Moreno and Sam Paganini, while Saturday sees the likes of Agents of Time, Fideles and Kevin de Vries taking the decks. The line-up offers a diverse range of styles. Alongside standard DJ sets, 999999999 is a hybrid live act and Mathame is preparing an audiovisual show. Hungarian names include Mateo & Spirit, Sanfranciscobeat, Svetec and Budai House Clique.

Cars, Buses, Bedsits and Shops, the most recent release by Essex singer-songwriter Scott Lavene, nicely sums up this idiosyncratic troubadour who delves into the bizarre corners of everyday life for his unique material. Underscored by a punk DIY ethic, Lavene delivers his self-penned ditties in unadorned Estuary brogue with large helpings of rainy melancholy. Here he's supported by Juci Németh and Hunor G Szabó, aka Jucihonor Duo.  

For this legendary Hungarian guitar virtuoso, the title of this evening's performance, In the Footsteps of Bach, is only the starting point, for the much-travelled, much-acclaimed maestro will be melding baroque and Roma musical traditions as he takes flights of fancy between the centuries. Very much one for the purists but anyone would be astonished at Snétberger's craftsmanship – and in the divine setting of the Great Hall at the landmark Liszt Music Academy. 

Basketball's great showmen celebrate their centenary with a world tour, calling into Hungary for three nights, including a gala night at Budapest's Papp László Sportaréna on October 31. Formed in Chicago in 1926, the team was converted into an entertainment phenomenon by Londoner Abe Saperstein, who introduced the three-point shot to the sport and took the Globetrotters to the biggest arenas in America and around the world. With nearly 30,000 exhibition games under their belt in some 125 countries, the former Savoy Big Five can now look forward to their next century. 

One of the stand-out events on the calendar at Müpa this autumn is a performance by Grammy-winning saxophonist Joe Lovano, who leads a five-piece of star musicians – pianist Nduduzo Makhathini, drummer Jeff 'Tain' Watts, fellow saxophonist Melissa Aldana and double-bass player Linda May Han Oh – in a special centenary celebration of the life and work of jazz legend John Coltrane. All are award-winning performers in their own right have played with some of the biggest names in the business, including with Ravi Coltrane, son of the iconic jazzster and still gigging consistently.

From the first artefact, the legendary Ford Model T, this exhibition explores the contribution of Hungarians to the development of the United States. Makó-born József Galamb was a key designer at the Ford Motor Company from 1904 onwards, and played a vital role in the car that transformed America, the highest-selling model until 1972. The American Dream – Hungarians in the United States 1976-2026 touches on how other emigrés, refugees and many members of the Magyar diaspora moved the dial across the Atlantic.

Premiered as part of the Bartók Spring Festival and now running for two nights, maverick virtuoso violinist Félix Lajko teams up with the Székesfehérvár ballet company to create a dream-like production that speaks to your most treasured secrets. Memories, impressions and your deepest conscious thoughts are brought back to life by Attila Egerházi's choreography and Lajkó's wild string rhythms, that go way beyond the folk roots taken as his starting point.

To refresh your wardrobe this season, throughout September, October and November, the Secret Market will fill the terrace of the downtown Akvárium Klub with stalls featuring local designers and independent creators. You can browse a selection of clothing, bags, jewellery, ceramics and home décor items while meeting the makers themselves. Music, and food and drink offerings, turn the design market into a perfect way to spend an afternoon in the city centre. Admission is free. In the event of bad weather, the October edition will move indoors to the Akvárium bistro.

A new exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts not only displays fascinating objects from Ancient Egypt, but also shows how statues, stelae, reliefs and wall paintings were made. Viewers are allowed into the creative process – through unfinished works, contemporary depictions and details that preserve traces of the making, you can see how the Egyptian masters did it.

One of the most exciting parts of the exhibition is that it brings items thousands of years old to new life with the help of modern technology. You can see a 3D animation of the internal structure of a coffin, reconstructed colours that are no longer perceptible to the naked eye, and a hologram projector that shows how the works of art might have been in their original splendour.

On the Hungarian throne for 40 years, from 1342 to 1382, King Louis I the Great, oversaw the excavation of precious metals, mainly gold, to allow his medieval realm to flourish. Born exactly 700 years ago in Visegrád, where a number of anniversary events will also take place, this ruler of the Angevin dynasty pursued a successful foreign policy and quelled internal rebellion, acquiring the Polish crown, founding Hungary's first university, and encouraging the development of arts and craftsmanship. The few remaining examples of coins and jewellery from this golden period are on display at the National Museum will be on display until the end of the year. Documentation is in English and Hungarian.