Events: What's on in Budapest

Kicking off with the lilting reggae rhythms of Irie Maffia on April 23, prime open-air live venue Budapest Park stages five months of regular shows in the shadow of Közvágóhíd, set back from the Müpa arts complex in south Pest. Among the top international acts are Moby on August 1, Rita Ora on July 29, Idles on July 8 and the Sex Pistols with Frank Carter on July 20. Big Hungarian names include Halott Pénz, Ivan & the Parazol and Blahalouisiana. The season closes with Parov Stelar on September 26.

Running for three nights at Brody House, Dedication premiered to rave reviews at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2022, and is now being toured across Europe. Created and performed by New York pianist Roger Peltzman, this one-hour show relates the story of his family who fled the Holocaust, and his talented uncle, a brilliant musician, murdered in Auschwitz at the age of 21. As well as personal detail, Peltzman intersperses his personal tale with beautiful renditions of Chopin and the blues in an uplifting solo portrayal. Each concert will be followed by a Q&A session between Peltzman and the audience. Use the discount code LOVEMORE to receive a 25% discount on tickets (Ft 8,900/€24.50).

At five independent cinemas across town – the Kino, Művész, Puskin, Tabán and Toldi – 70 films are being screened in one night, starting at 6pm on Saturday, May 16 and running until 6am the following morning. One wristband (Ft 6,900/€19) covers the whole event, allowing you to hop from cinema to cinema and take in as many features as you wish.

Most are showing in original language with Hungarian subtitles, with films such as Hamnet, Nürnberg and Marty Supreme, with a couple of Hungarian premieres thrown in. See here for a full schedule, in Hungarian but with times and venues easy to work out.

Now in its 45th year, the Budapest Spring Festival takes over the city between May 2 and 17, with some 170 events this year at venues all across the Hungarian capital. From concerts and exhibitions to theatre shows and book launches, all kinds of art forms will be showcased, not only in well-known cultural spaces, but also in exciting, unusual locations.

The schedule includes new presentations, performances, walks and community events, while venues such as Textilgyár, MANYI, Viadukt Bár and FREEDOM will join the festival. A detailed agenda is available here.

Subtitled Play and Democracy in East Berlin, this free exhibition was first shown in the German capital in 2025 and now fills the attractive, ground-floor space of the Galeria Centralis (Tue-Sun 10am-6pm) at the Blinken OSA Archivum (Arany János utca 32, 1051 Budapest) in town – just wander in to take a look.

In 1979, an East-Berlin collective filled a repurposed furniture van with things kids could build and play with, and trundled across various neighbourhoods of the GDR capital, setting up mini-utopias with planks and cardboard. As well as outdoor play areas, these became makeshift democracies in public spaces.

As well as original video film and photographs, and documentation in English, a play area welcomes supervised over-4s on May 9 and 23 (10am-4pm). The exhibition runs until May 24.

Tap takeovers, live music, tasting sessions and professional showcases form part of Budapest Beer Week, the most prestigious event of its kind here, between May 4-10. For most days, admission is free, apart from the closing weekend at key concert venue Dürer Kert, when a ticket allows you meet the brewers in person, sip from a festival-branded glass and then let loose at the afterparty with live acts and DJs.

By day, you can enjoy unlimited tasting for six hours, sampling the wares of more than 40 international breweries and hundreds of different beers. The wristband also offers discounts throughout the week, and the Sunday extravaganza closes festivities with free admission and concerts

Opening on April 22 with a personal appearance and presentation by the artist himself, The Art of Solitude showcases the striking images of Mark Fearnley, a self-styled fine-art street photographer based in London. Running until May 9, the show forms part of the in-house exhibition section of the Budapest Photo Festival and is being hosted by the Pikszis Kultúrpont at Rózsa utca 64 off Andrássy út.

A trained artist by profession, Fearnley has been working mainly in the black-and-white photographic medium for ten years, using reflections, geometric forms and plays of light to pick out solitary figures dwarfed by the architecture of today’s super-sized world.

You can find out more about Mark Fearnley and his work here – his talk on Wednesday is scheduled for 6.30pm. 

This year, RAKPART, the traffic-free celebration of the Pest embankment, opens for its summer season on May 1 at the start of the bank-holiday weekend. Entertainment will be laid on for pedestrians, cyclists, badminton players, barbecuers, joggers, rollerbladers, dog walkers and anyone keen on relaxing and taking in the cityscape by the river. Until mid-September, the waterfront will be free of motorists every weekend and, for 2026, the lower embankment will also be closed to four wheels on weekday evenings.

One of the best parts of spring is when the fresh ingredients of the season finally arrive, and with them the flavours we’ve been waiting for all winter. From May 4 to 17, asparagus and strawberries will be in the spotlight at Time Out Market Budapest. Vegans can look forward to asparagus, hazelnut and harissa at Casa Christa, as well as strawberry, rhubarb and yoghurt, while the 101 Bistro will be creating a spring bao 101.

Look out, too, for carbonara and asparagus pizza at Anyukám Mondta, braised beef with pea-and-asparagus risotto at LIRA by Essência, slow-cooked pulled lamb with grilled green asparagus and pickled strawberry at Pingrumba, spring asparagus with miso Hollandaise sauce and trout caviar at Szaletly and asparagus burgers at Tuning Burger.

Set in the fabulous Corvin Palace on focal square Blaha Lujza tér, Time Out Market Budapest features 11 dining outlets, whose kitchens operate from 11.30am to 10pm daily.

Hosted at his namesake exhibition centre, Hungarian Report, 1948, displays some 50 photographs taken by the legendary photographer Robert Capa, who had returned home from his acclaimed photo shoots around war-torn Europe. What he discovered was ruined streets and the gradual rebuilding of the city of his youth, as it faced a post-war future with hope and uncertainty.

Between April 26 and May 10, the 26th Budapest Dance Festival brings classic ballet and experimental contemporary pieces to the National Dance Theatre in Millenáris Park. Along with top Hungarian troupes – the Zoltán Fodor Company, the Ballet Company of Győr – two top international companies visit the Hungarian capital, each staging two performances, the London City Ballet and Compagnie Hervé Koubi. The Franco-Algerian choreographer delves into his North-African roots to present What The Day Owes To The Night, inspired by the award-winning novel from 2008 by Algerian author Yasmina Khadra.

At the All In Rosé Tasting by Bortársaság and Time Out Market Budapest, everything revolves around rosé for one night – fresh, fruity wines, a relaxed atmosphere and sips that capture the finest moments of the season. In all, 30 varieties of rosé will be brought together under one roof on Friday, May 15, bathed in the natural light and surrounded by the lush greenery of the Greenhouse in the Corvin Palace. Tickets (Ft 3,900/€10.70) entitle visitors to six tasting tokens, allowing them to explore the diversity of rosé through a range of style, from crisp, dry selections to fruitier, rounder flavours.

Running between April 10 and May 10, Brody House (Bródy Sándor utca 10, 1088 Budapest) stages Women’s Eye, the result of an international open call put out by the city-wide, annual Budapest Photo Festival for works which present the world from a woman’s point of view. Themes include, but are not limited to, identity, family, intimacy, friendship and motherhood. Answering the call have been photographers from as far afield as Mexico and Belarus, with representation from the UK, France, Spain and, of course, Hungary.

Hungary’s first contemporary ballet company explore the depth of human relationships in this two-part adaptation of the star-crossed story of Romeo and Juliet. Playing for two consecutive nights on March 19-20, then again in May at Müpa’s prestigious Festival Theatre, the production showcases Vincze Balázs’s stunning choreography, the stage designs of Balázs Cziegler and costumes by Julcsi Kiss. As Shakespeare once more takes the global spotlight, this is a timely reminder of his everlasting appeal, no matter the art form.