The Harlem Gospel Singers in Budapest, December 14.

Do you like gospel? Do you like black gospel? Then this is an event for you! The Harlem Gospel Singers will perform in the Papp László Budapest Sportaréna the 14. December, 19:30. Tickets can be bought from Eventim for these event. So, if you would like some more christmas feelings, before christmas arrives, this might help you (together with the Christmas market in Budapest).

"A good message, songs sung together, lifting, spiritual and explosive: when voices start to fly and hearts open – that’s gospel. It is expressed most completely when compared worldwide at concerts of the famous and original Harlem Gospel Singers"
Information gathered from the Eventim page

CADRE NOIR de Saumur, 18th - 19th October

A major series of equestrian events awaits horse lovers on the occasion of the ceremonial opening of the new pavilion. We wish to celebrate this important milestone in the renewal of the HUNGEXPO Budapest Fair Centre in a befitting manner with an exclusive gala show and by reviving the tradition of equestrian life. This large scale event is a must for the public keen on riding, and equestrian competitions and shows, manufacturers of tackle, and those involved in equestrian tourism or wishing to popularise riding. This is because EQUIFEST is more than simply a spectacular festive programme – it is also a trade forum and outstanding business opportunity.

Exclusive equestrian event on the occasion of the ceremonial opening of the new pavilion

“Man and horse, the elegance of harmony”

CADRE NOIR DE SAUMUR HORSE GALA
18th – 19th October
HUNGEXPO Budapest Fair Center, new pavilion G

For the first time ever the gala show of the Cadre Noir of the French National School of Equitation can be seen in Hungary by favour of the French Institute and Hungexpo C. Co. Ltd. The riders of the Cadre Noir de Saumur bring the traditions of the “academic” Haute Ecole to life in the display, accompanied by Symphony Orchestra.

Source: www.eventim.hu (you can buy tickets there as well)
For a little film about the event, go to www.alounneppe.hu

23rd Plus Budapest Marathon [05. October 2008]

In not so long the 23rd Plus Budapest Marathon will be arranged in Budapest again. The competitors can choose among a variety of distances: 42 km, 30 km, relay for 3 or for 5 runners, Minimarathon (7,5 km) and Fun Run (3,5km) or walking (3,5 km).

The marathon will start from Heroes Square, and the detailed schedule can be seen below:

9.20 and 9.30 - Fun Run (4K) starts (there are two starts, because of the huge number of runners)
10.00 - Marathon and Marathon Relay/Ekiden start
10.15 - Minimarathon start

Along the way there will be refreshment stations, street musicians and the marathon will color Budapest during the entire day.

For more information, check out its webpage.

Page Rank Update [27th September - 2008]

Slowly, but moving upwards! Waking up this morning looking at the Page Rank tool in Mozilla I noticed that the white bar had become a little bit greener. It no longer had only three places filled, but now four, which means we have increased our Page Rank by one since the last Page Rank update in the end of July. That is great, and hopefully it will continue in that direction!

For those who do not understand what Page Rank is about, it is a ranking system Google uses to decide how important and good a page is. The higher the rank, the more litely it will show up on the top of the searches people do in the search engine.

Mozi Ünnep 2008 is here

Mamma Mia, one of the films shown at the Mozi Ünnep 2008

We just wanted to remind you all about the current Cinema Celebration going on in all the cinemas of Hungary. For 490 forints you can see old and new movies in cinema. It started yesterday and will last until Sunday, so be quick and go to the cinema.

A good advice: Be in good time, as loads of people visit the cinemas in these days. Therefore it might be that you will not get tickets for the movies you want if you just drop by some minutes before it starts.

Mozi Ünnep 2008 article

New Erkel Theater to be built

Many people who have been looking for cheap theater and opera tickets in Budapest have been to the Erkel Theater. Located near the Keleti Pályaudvar the location is not the best, and the building in itself is in very bad condition. So many have probably thought afterwards that they would rather have used some more money, and gone to the State Opera instead. Anyway, good news are on the way!

The government has decided to destroy the Erkel Theater (Erkel Színház) for then to build up a brand new and modern theater instead. It is expected to be finished by the autumn in 2012, and the Opera is allowed to use this one for performances 180 days a year. Living for more than two years we all know that expected times for buildling or highways to be finished almost never succeed, so it will for sure be at least 2013 before it is finished, but it is anyway good news that they will build a new Erkel Theater.

If you can read hungarian, and want even more details about the Erkel Színház, you can read this article from Népszabadság.

Nicolas Cage coming to Hungary in November

Oscar-winner Nicolas Cage is to reunite with director Dominic Sena in a supernatural thriller set in the Middle Ages, entertainment industry press reports said Monday.

Cage, whose recent films have included "Bangkok Dangerous" and "National Treasure: Book of Secrets," has signed to star in "Season of the Witch," according to Daily Variety and the Hollywood Reporter.

The film chronicles 14th century knights charged with transporting a girl suspected of being the witch responsible for spreading the plague.

Filming is due to get underway in November at locations in Austria and Hungary. Cage, 44, previously worked with Sena on the 2000 car-racing caper "Gone in Sixty Seconds."

Where in Hungary the recordings will take place we still dont know, but if we hear something, we will for sure tell you!

Pictures from the Critical Mass Demonstration and some more!

Yesterday was the Car Free Day in Budapest, and it was also the day for the Critical Mass Bicycle Demonstration, and on that occasion we just recommend you all to visit this page for some nice pictures from the bicycle demonstration.


We also read that a new airport is coming up in Hungary, the Alba Airport. The airport will be near Szekesfehérvár, a city between Budapest and Balaton. Read more about this at Budapestagent.

Car Free day and Critical Mass Bicycle demonstration

Today is the Car Free Day 2008. This day is meant to encourage the citizens of Budapest to rather use public transportation, their feet or bicycle. Every September 22, people from around the world get together in the streets, intersections, and neighbourhood blocks to remind the world that we don't have to accept our car-dominated society. So also in Budapest today.

In addition the Critical Mass Bicycle demonstration will be arranged in the city today. It will all start around 18:30 at the Heroes Square, and at 20:00 they will all meet at Moszkva Tér for a demonstration there. It is not one set track for all the bicyclists, but many will probably turn right on Oktogon and travel towards the Nyugati Pályaudvar, the Margaret Bridge and reach the Moszkva Tér from there. The other expected popular track will be through Deak Ferenc Ter, across the Chain Bridge and then from there reaching the Moszkva Tér.

Maybe someone will try to cross across the Elisabeth Bridge, and following the Attila Ut they will slowly reach the Moszkva Tér as well. No track has been set, so the bicyclists are free to go where they want to.

At 20:00 they will all gather at Moszkva Tér and lift their bicycles into the air, so if you are nearby bring a camera, make some nice pictures, send them to us, and tomorrow we will publish them at our webpage (off course crediting the pictures to you).

No need to panic, but pay attention!

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License.

Today there will be several demonstrations arranged in the center of Budapest, in the area of the Parlament, the Chain Bridge and the Heroes Square. There will be one gipsy demonstration, a group of motorbikers, a group demonstrating for bringing the peace back into the streets of Budapest, and one group will demonstrate against the current political leaders in Hungary (which is leftsided, led by Ferenc Gyurcsány). Hopefully everything will happen peacefully, but if you are around in the area, it might be that you want to take a turn to skip the biggest demonstrations. The demonstrations will be going on from around 14:00 and for some hours from there.

Two years ago the famous "Gyurcsány Ferench"-speach (Öszödi Beszéd) was published, and it led to major demonstrations and trouble in Hungary. Now, two years later people have still not forgotten about it, and that also has influence on the fact that so many demonstrations will take place today. You can read more about those protests and demonstrations in Wikipedia.

McDonalds almost everywhere

As we have written in our article about fast food in Budapest there are lots of McDonalds restaurants in the city. Today while travelling with the metro in Budapest there was a public transportation map where you could see where all the McDonalds restaurants could be found. I though I would just count it, just for fun. As I finished counting I ended up with the nice number of 27 restaurants. Quite a lot, ay?

So, if you want safety and rather eat a tired Big Mac than some spicy and exciting Hungarian food, there are plenty of chances for you to bump into a McDonalds while you are in Budapest.

Photo taken on the metro of the map with my mobile phone (really bad)

Budapest Autumn Festival, October 10-19.

Budapest is the city of festivals; Sziget Festival, Spring Festival, Autumn Festival and all kinds of small and big festivals. This autumn from October 10-19. you can be Budapests guests as the Budapest Autumn Festival will be arranged in the city. For a detailed program, go to the festivalpage.

Upcoming programs and concerts in Budapest


Below you will find the Budapest Autumn Festival press release:
If I add up the two figures in number seventeen, I get eight. But adding nine to eight will again make seventeen. How interesting! Just like the Budapest Autumn Festival. Staged for the seventeenth time this year, it will certainly be as interesting as ever.

Although prosperous firms and individuals in Hungary are still far from believing that contemporary art should be oversponsored, we have been having sponsors also this year, saving us from cultural shiver on those cold autumn days by supporting what is practically the most exciting contemporary all-out art festival in Budapest, the whole country, the whole

Black and white, yes and no, man and woman, outside and inside – gosh, how many times have we read these commonplaces in the descriptions of various projects, dance concepts and theatrical ventures! Have we also landed on this heap? No, my dear friends, we have not. All we want to do is to demonstrate how a colourful world is also a better world and how pale and grey would everythig be if the paint earmarked for culture was used, instead, to add even more colour to colour television programmes. Fortunately we can say we shall not fall into this trap. With culture playing an increasingly important role in people’s lives, politicians, too, will have to face the need to meet the requirements of their beloved voters. We shall wake up one day to find all news of catastrophes, backbiting and stock exchange gone from our dailies that will write only about theatre performances, concerts and exhibition openings. The multis will realize that they can sell their new air fresheners and conditioners only by advertising culture and will therefore not refrain from digging deep into their pockets and supporting the emergence and performance of the newest, most topical and most up-to-date works.

And the people. Those sweet people! They will no longer be of the view that whatever contains a thought is modern and decadent, therefore indigestable and dangerous. In fact, they will be dying to be able to pay many times the price of a brand name T-shirt for a ticket to a contemporary dance show. And then blood rushes to their faces, their colour rises ike in those old Chinese propaganda posters where sparkling sunshine shone through a rainbow, irradiating the colourful flowers and small animals of the meadows. And our old glory returns! (Or, what is more important, appears to return.)

Well, that’s what we wanted to bring to your attention. And of course point to those fantastic artists and exciting performances that make this year’s festival so colourful. These works and creators deal with the issues of the world without prevarication and colouring, their radicalism matching the black-and-white of Budapest Autumn Festival 2008.

Balázs Kovalik | artistic director

Art Nouveau in Budapest

Surfing around this morning I found a very good and informative article about Art Nouveau in Budapest, also known as Jugendstil and Secession. This style that was very common at the start of the 20th century is giving Budapest part of the special look it has. When arriving from the airport most people notice the Museum of Applied Arts, by the Ferenc Körüt, especially because of the special roof.

We recommend all our readers to check out this informative article found on the Disappearing Budapest Blog.

MOL Jazz Festival in Budapest, September 17-21.

The MOL Jazz Festival is the most significant event in the Budapest jazz calendar. This year sees the sixth massive roundup in the Hungarian capital of some of Europe’s most interesting musicians. As always, the 9th District of Budapest famed for its lively and friendly sidewalk cafés plays host to the festival. The Big Tent raised among delightully dilapidated old riverside warehouses (Közraktár) and the jazz-boat anchored at the Nehru Embankment will serve as the main venues, although the opening and the final concerts will be staged at Budapest’s state-of-the-art Palace of Arts (MÜPA). However, for those who crave more music after the main events, they can gorge themselves on high quality jazz, free of charge, in the informal setting of the Ráday Street cafés (Fotocella; Jaffa; Paris, Texas; If, Fecske) as well as at the Pinceszínház (Cellar Theatre), the Sanyi és Aranka Theatre and at the Hotel Ibis.

The Festival naturally features the giants of Hungarian jazz, it stages unique productions that join gifted local musicians with foreign jazz stars and it also serves as a springboard for our incredibly talented youngsters. One of the declared aims of the MOL Jazz Festival Budapest is to put Hungarian jazz into a European context. It hopes to achieve this by the aforementioned international workshops and by acquainting domestic audiences with the varied and vibrant European jazz scene.
With the choice of venues widening year by year, one can enjoy practically the whole gamut of jazz during the festival, from traditional mainstream acts right through to modern experimental music. One of the new venues will be the MOL Jazz Lounge, a tent catering specifically for young audiences receptive to jazz. The Jazz Lounge will open in the morning but between 19:00 and 22:00 it will feature some of our most outstanding DJs.

The curtain-raiser to the festival will be a concert by the Modern Art Orchestra playing compositions of two highly original progressive musicians, Kristóf Bacsó and Szabolcs Oláh and featuring two outstanding soloists of the new generation, saxophonist Gábor Bolla and guitar-player Márton Fenyvesi. One of Europe’s most unique jazz legends, the French clarinetist Louis Sclavis will show yet another facet of his wide-ranging talents by presenting live the sound-track he composed for the silent movie, Dans la nuit.

The festival’s special workshops will bring you the great favourite of French jazz critics, vocalist Gabor Winand, the virtuoso Armenian-Hungarian accordionist David Yengibarjan, the progressive fusion guitarist, Tibor Eichinger, the unique guitar sound of Gábor Gadó and Indo-jazz violinist Zoltán Lantos’ Mirrorworld augmented by Norwegian guitar-player Eivind Aarset.

In the Big Tent and on the jazz-boat the festival’s tone will be set, as ever, by open minded, innovative European bands the most outstanding of which will be Dave Stapleton Quintet from Britain, Jazzkamikaze from Denmark, the Juhani Aaltonen Trio from Finland, the Heinz Sauer-Michael Wollny Duo from Germany and the Trio Grande from Belgium. The quartet led by Austrian sax-player Wolfgang Puschnig will be given extra flavour by the inventions of American bass-guitarist Jamaaladeen Tacuma. One of the highlights of the festival will be the appearance of the magnetic African-American drummer Rashied Ali, one-time sideman of Archie Shepp, Don Cherry and many others who will be fronting his own quintet.

There will be several concerts highlighting the best of our brilliant young players, such as by the Plastic Septet or by trumpeter Gábor Subicz, winner on his instrument of the audience prize at this year’s jazz talent contest organised by Hungarian Radio.

At last year's festival the Viktor Tóth Quartet presented live and to standing ovation the material of their then brand new album that was voted "Jazz record of 2007" by the critics of Hungary's most prestigious music magazine, Gramofon. The album Climbing with mountains went on to earn serious international plaudits. As part of this year's festival, three consecutive evenings from 18th to 20th September the quartet including Viktor Tóth on saxophone, Hamid Drake on drums, Mátyás Szandai on bass and Ferenc Kovács on trumpet and violin will record their new album live at the Take Five jazz club.

For a detailed program, check out the homepage of the festival.

Freddy Cole concert in Budapest

Freddy Cole could not resist the pressure as his elder brother and sisters, Eddie, Ike és Nat, all became musicians. Freddy started playing the piano at the age of six... and he still does. Freddy Cole will have a concert in Budapest in the Millenáris Teátrum at November 11, 20.00. For tickets, go here.

Concerts and programs in Budapest.

Freedy Cole video from Youtube

Jean Michel Jarre in Budapest

Celebrating that Oxygene was released more than thirty years ago Jean Michel Jarre is arranging a major tour in Europe this autumn. During his tour Budapest will also be visited on November 12. The concert starts at 20.00, and the cheapest tickets cost 9,500 forints. For tickets, go to Ticketpro.

Concerts and programs in Budapest.

Formula 1 Budapest 2009 - F1

Next year at Hungaroring we will meet again! The dates are available, and you better book your hotel, apartment or camping as soon as possible. This year the Formula 1 in Budapest (Hungaroring) was won by Heikki Kovalainen, but who will win next year? Tickets can already be ordered from here.

So the dates... July 24 - July 26! The stars are coming to Budapest, so you better be here as well!

Coldplay soon in Budapest

Coldplay have no.1 selling album in 36 countries and soon they will be present in Budapest. If you have not bought your ticket yet, make sure to do it now. Read more about the Coldplay concert.

Concerts and programs in Budapest.

Press release from EMI:
Coldplay’s album Viva La Vida has to date been the No.1 selling album in 36 countries around the world, including in the US, where it held the top spot for two weeks, and in the UK where the album has been No.1 for the last four weeks. Coldplay’s previous album, the 10 million-selling X&Y, reached No.1 in 32 countries in 2005.

In a number of countries, including the UK, France, Germany and Japan, first week sales of Viva La Vida exceeded those of X&Y, and Viva La Vida has already been certified gold or platinum in 31 countries including platinum in the USA, Germany and Australia and double platinum in the UK and Canada.

In many countries Viva La Vida held the top spot on the album chart in its second week, including in the USA, U.K., Australia, Canada, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Holland, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland and New Zealand.

Viva La Vida set the record for the highest first week album sales ever on the iTunes Store worldwide, in addition to being the biggest album pre-order in iTunes’ history. In the US, 288,000 week one sales were digital downloads, the biggest ever first week sales tally for a digital album, and with 394,000 digital albums sold in the first three weeks, Viva La Vida is the all time best selling digital album in the States. US over the counter sales for Viva La Vida across all formats have now exceeded 1.1 million according to Nielsen SoundScan.

In the U.K. Viva La Vida is the fastest-selling album of the year with over the counter sales of more than 600,000 since its release on 12 June, while in Germany the album is already the biggest selling release of the year as well as the fastest.

Record heat in Budapest

Last Sunday, September 7th, a new record was beaten in Budapest. Never before has it been that warm on that date. The warmest temperature was measured in Szeged, and there the temperature reached 37.6C or 99.68oF.

Since then it has become a little bit colder, but during daytime you can still experience very nice weather if you come to Budapest.

Budapest weather information

In memory of September 11 - Planting a tree in Budapest

Seven years ago the terror attacks on the United States took place. Today the victims of the September 11. will be honored with a tree-planting ceremony outside the American Embassy building. The American Ambassador April H Foley, together with the Hungarian Defense Minister Imre Szekeres and the Budapest District V Mayor Antal Rogán will be present during the ceremony.

Since 2001 this has turned into an annual event, and today it is due to start at 1:30pm, and it will take place in front of the Embassy building at Szabadság tér 12, in Pest’s District V.

Source: Budapest Sun

Two videoclips from Hungarian Idol (Megasztár)

In these days a new season of Megasztár (Idol) has started in Hungary, and then lots of videos are always added to the internet for people around the world to enjoy them. Below you will find two funny videos (one of them is a couple of years old though), and we hope they will bring a smile on your face as you see them.

6th September, Budapest 1869 – The birth of Felix Salten

Siegmund Salzmann, or Felix Salten as his name became later, was born in Budapest on the 6th of September 1869. He had to move to Austria after only three weeks, as the Austrians were providing full citizenship to the Jews since 1867.

But who is Felix Salten, or Siegmund Salzmann, and what is he known for? His most famous work is Bambi, which he wrote in 1923. Bambi was later translated to English in 1928 and sold to Sidney Franklin for $1,000 in 1933. Sideny Franklin later transferred the rights to Walt Disney Studios, and they released the film Bambi in 1942.

So, next time you see Bambi you have a reason to think about the city of Budapest, and the nation of Hungary!

Another famous Jew from Budapest
Another famous Jew that was born in Budapest was Theodore Herzl (born 1860), the leader of the Zionist movement. He and his family also moved to Vienna, approximately the same time as Felix Salten did.

When they lived in Budapest, they lived just next to the big synagogue in Dohány Utca.

Read more about the other attractions in Budapest here.

Budapest pictures - All gathered in a 4 minute slideshow

If you like Budapest and if you like beautiful buildings this is for sure going to please you. If you have not been to Budapest, this is going to give you a taste of what is waiting for you. In this slideshow you will find a mix of pictures taken during daytime and nighttime, and also pictures taken throughout the entire year.

For other pictures, check out the Budapest by day and the Budapest by night slideshow.

Budapest Public Transportation Map

Here you can find a very detailed map showing you the metro, bus, tram and HEV-lines of Budapest. For more information about the public transportation in Budapest, go here.

More maps:
Interactive Budapest Map
A simple Budapest Map

Click the map for a high resolution version

Cinema Celebration - Mozi Ünnep 2008

Every year the cinemas in Budapest arrange the Cinema Celebration. For four days you can watch every film for around 500 forints (to be exact, 490 forints), around 2 Euro. In 2008 they will repeat this event, and from September 25-28 you can join several hundred thousand people in Budapest and visit one of the cinemas.

For more information about the cinemas in the city, check out our cinema page where you can read about Palace Cinema, Corvin, Sugar Cinema, Cinema City Arena Plaza and so on.

The official Cinema Celebration page (only in Hungarian).