Venues in Budapest

Budapest is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. Budapest is widely known for its well-kept pre-war cityscape, with a great variety of streets and landmarks in classical architecture. The culture of Budapest is reflected by Budapest's size and variety. Most Hungarian cultural movements first emerged in the city. Budapest is an important center for music, film, theatre, dance and visual art. Artists have been drawn into the city by opportunity, as the city government funds the arts with adequate financial resources. Budapest was named "City of Design" in December 2015 and has been a member of UNESCO Creative Cities Network since then.

In Budapest there are forty theatres, seven concert halls and an opera house. Outdoor festivals, concerts and lectures enrich the cultural offer of summer, which are often held in historical buildings. The largest theatre facilities are the Budapest Operetta and Musical Theatre, the József Attila Theatre, the Katona József Theatre, the Madách Theatre, the Hungarian State Opera House, the National Theatre, the Vigadó Concert Hall, Radnóti Miklós Theatre, the Comedy Theatre and the Palace of Arts, known as MUPA. The Budapest Opera Ball is an annual Hungarian society event taking place in the building of the Budapest Opera (Operaház) on the last Saturday of the carnival season, usually late February.

Several annual festivals take place in Budapest. The Sziget Festival is one of the largest outdoor music festival in Europe. The Budapest Spring Festival includes concerts at several venues across the city. The Café Budapest Contemporary Arts Festival (formerly the Budapest Autumn Festival) brings free music, dance, art, and other cultural events to the streets of the city. The Budapest Wine Festival and Budapest Pálinka Festival, occurring each May, are gastronomy festivals focusing on culinary pleasures. The Budapest Pride (or Budapest Pride Film and Cultural Festival) occurs annually across the city, and usually involves a parade on the Andrássy Avenue. Other festivals include the Budapest Fringe Festival, which brings more than 500 artists in about 50 shows to produce a wide range of works in alternative theatre, dance, music and comedy outside the mainstream. The LOW Festival is a multidisciplinary contemporary cultural festival held in Hungary in the cities Budapest and Pécs from February until March; the name of the festival alludes to the Low Countries, the region encompassing the Netherlands and Flanders. The Budapest Jewish Summer Festival, in late August, is one of the largest in Europe.

There are many symphony orchestras in Budapest, with the Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra being the preeminent one. It was founded in 1853 by Ferenc Erkel and still presents regular concerts in the Hungarian State Opera House and National Theatre. Budapest also has one of the more active jazz scenes in Central Europe.

The dance tradition of the Carpathian Basin is a unique area of the European dance culture, which is also a special transition between the Balkans and Western Europe regions. The city is home to several authentic Hungarian folk dance ensembles which range from small ensembles to professional troupes. Budapest is one of the few cities in the world with a high school for learning folk dance.

Budapest is packed with museums and galleries. The city glories in 223 museums and galleries, which presents several memories, next to the Hungarian ones as well those of universal and European culture and science. Here are the greatest examples among them: the Hungarian National Museum, the Hungarian National Gallery, the Museum of Fine Arts (where can see the pictures of Hungarian painters, like Victor Vasarely, Mihály Munkácsy and a great collection about Italian art, Dutch art, Spanish art and British art from before the 19th century and French art, British art, German art, Austrian art after the 19th century), the House of Terror, the Budapest Historical Museum, the Aquincum Museum, the Memento Park, Museum of Applied Arts and the contemporary arts exhibition Palace of Arts Budapest. In Budapest there are 837 monuments, which represent the most of the European artistic style. The classical and unique Hungarian Art Nouveau buildings are prominent.

A lot of libraries have unique collections in Budapest, such as the National Széchényi Library, which keeps historical relics from the age before the printing of books. The Metropolitan Szabó Ervin Library plays an important role in the general education of the capital's population. Other libraries: The Library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Eötvös University Library, the Parliamentary Library, Library of the Hungarian Central Statistical Office and the National Library of Foreign Literature.

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Venues in Budapest (11)

Hungarian State Opera House

Andrássy út 22

The Hungarian State Opera House (Hungarian: Magyar Állami Operaház) is a neo-Renaissance opera house located in central Budapest, on Andrássy út. The Hungarian State Opera House is the main opera house of the country and the second largest opera house in Budapest and in Hungary. Today, the opera house is home to the Budapest Opera Ball, a society event dating back to 1886. The Theatre was designed by Miklós Ybl, a major figure of 19th-century Hungarian architecture.

St. Stephen's Basilica

Szent István tér 1

St. Stephen's Basilica (Szent István-bazilika) is a Roman Catholic basilica in Budapest, Hungary. It is named in honour of Stephen, the first King of Hungary (c 975–1038), whose right hand is housed in the reliquary. It was the sixth largest church building in Hungary before 1920. Since the renaming of the primatial see, it has been the co-cathedral of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Esztergom-Budapest. Today, it is the third largest church building in present-day Hungary.

Béla Bartók National Concert Hall

Komor Marcell u. 1

Hungary's long waited National Concert Hall, designed with the feel of a Gothic cathedral, is located at the heart of the Müpa Budapest complex. The quality of the acoustics are guaranteed by the outstanding work of Russell Johnson, a top specialist who conducted well over fifty years of research in this field and participated in the construction of several top opera houses and concert halls. His work in Budapest was characterised by close cooperation with the architect, the contractor and leading Hungarian musicians. Johnson was full of praise for the finished project, telling the Wall Street Journal, “I would not be surprised if, in two or three years’ time, Hungarian musicians say this was the best concert hall in the world”.

Budapest Operetta and Musical Theatre

Nagymező u. 17

Until the beginning of WW1, the building housed an Orpheum (or music hall). When the war broke out, the "palace of entertainment" closed, the golden age of the music halls and the nostalgic era of the peaceful pre-war times ended. In 1923, the leadership of Budapest decided that the operetta genre needed its own institution. With the opening of the Capital City Operetta Theatre, the Silver Age of operetta truly began in Budapest as well - after being performed in the Popular Theatre and the Royal Theatre, operetta found its real home. Throughout the history of the theatre, its main goal was to maintain the traditions of classical operetta, and enrich it with the newest creative solutions. Budapest - as well as Vienna - is the capital city of operetta, where adherence to our heritage is combined with exciting new ideas.

Capital Circus of Budapest

Állatkerti krt. 12a

The Capital Circus of Budapest is a circus building located in Budapest, Hungary. It originally opened in 1889, although it has changed locations since then. Its current building opened in 1971 and is the only stone circus in Central Europe. It seats 1450 people, and features animal, clown, and artistic performing acts. The building is in Városliget city park, near by are the Budapest Zoo, the Budapest Amusement park, Vajdahunyad Castle and the Széchenyi thermal bath.

Erkel Theatre

II. János Pál pápa tér 30

The Erkel Theatre is a theatre in Budapest, Hungary. Being the largest public building in the city for decades (and the largest theatre in the city), it was made part of the Hungarian State Opera House in 1951.

Hungarian Heritage House (Budai Vigadó Theater)

Corvin tér 8

The Hungarian Heritage House is a national institution founded in 2001 by the Secretary of State for the Ministry of Cultural Heritage with the purpose of preserving and promoting Hungarian folk tradition. The HHH is comprised of three units, each of which contributes to this aim in its own unique way. The HHH welcomes all inquiries, and aims to meet all requests in connection with Hungarian folk tradition.

Madách Theater

Erzsébet krt. 29-33

In the autumn of 1908, the dailies reported the following event: a new Royal Orpheum was built in the heart of the capital, Erzsébet krt. No. 31 and in the area of the large block of buildings on Hársfa Street related to it. The construction was based on the plans of the architect Bertalan Gaál, commissioned by Hermann Keleti and Oszkár Fodor. The opening took place on October 1st. The Royal Orpheum boasted state-of-the-art theater equipment at the time, its auditorium provided entertainment for 789 people, and a conservatory enriched the elegant milieu. Over the decades, the Royal Orpheum has but world stars also performed on stage, so that the audience could celebrate Josephine Baker, for example.

National Dance Theater

Kis Rókus u. 16-20

In an old industrial building that was once a flourishing hub for world-famous inventions, Hungarian dance has found a new home. The former Ganz factory, which had its heyday at the end of the 19th century, was not just a symbol of Hungarian industry, but also a cradle for a generation of Hungarian scientists who lent extraordinary creative impetus to the world.

St.Anne's Church Budapest

Batthyány tér 7

The Saint Anne Parish of Upper Watertown (Hungarian: Felsővízivárosi Szent Anna-plébánia) is a Roman Catholic parish church located in the Várkerület district (Buda Castle district), Budapest. The Saint Anne Parish Church of Upper Watertown, often used by its short name, St. Anne's Church, is one of the most significant buildings of the Batthyány tér. The church regularly hosts classical music concerts.

The Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music

Liszt Ferenc tér 8

The Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music is a music university and a concert hall in Budapest, Hungary, founded on November 14, 1875. It is home to the Liszt Collection, which features several valuable books and manuscripts donated by Franz Liszt upon his death, and the AVISO studio, a collaboration between the governments of Hungary and Japan to provide sound recording equipment and training for students. The Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music was founded by Franz Liszt himself (though named after its founder only in 1925, approx. 50 years after it was relocated to its current location at the heart of Budapest).