Things to do in Budapest in October
October 2026
The best concerts, festivals, exhibitions and all-round great things to do in Budapest in October 2026.
October weather
Mild enough to walk all day, not to sit out late
Cold after dark, and the clocks go back
Days with 1 mm of rain or more
Averages for 1991 to 2020 from HungaroMet, the Hungarian Meteorological Service.
Always good in October
What’s on for the rest of October
Photo: Uránia Nemzeti Filmszínház 1. NT Live: Les Liaisons Dangereuses at the Uránia
Tuesday 20 October, 19:00
Uránia National Film Theatre, District VIII
Marianne Elliott's new staging of Christopher Hampton's Les Liaisons Dangereuses, recorded at the National Theatre in London and shown in English with English subtitles. Lesley Manville and Aidan Turner play the two schemers. It runs 180 minutes.
Photo: Liszt Fest 2. Liszt Fest across Budapest
8 to 22 October, times vary by event, most concerts in the evening
Müpa Budapest and venues across the city
Müpa Budapest's autumn festival takes over concert halls, museums and clubs for a fortnight. Orchestral and chamber music, dance, jazz, electronic sets, literature and exhibitions all sit on the same programme.
Photo: Mai Manó Ház 3. Zola the photographer at the Mai Manó House
3 September to 25 October, Tuesday to Sunday 12:00 to 19:00, last entry 18:30
Mai Manó Ház, District VI
Émile Zola picked up a camera at forty-eight and never put it down. This is what came of it, a hundred or so prints of the novelist's private world.
Photo: B32 Galéria és Kultúrtér 4. Idő-Állomás, Bálint Szajki's railway photographs
30 September to 29 October, opening 30 September at 19:00, then on show to 29 October, with a curator's tour on 20 October at 17:00
B32 Galéria és Kultúrtér, District XI
A press photographer spent months on the Hungarian railways, and these are the pictures. Free to see, in the gallery on Bartók Béla út.
Photo: Kult7 5. Kék Pelikán exhibition at the KULT7 Labor
2 to 29 October, opens at 18:00 on 2 October, with a guided tour and a screening at 18:00 on 13 October
KULT7 Labor, District VII
The small upstairs gallery on Király utca gives October to Kék Pelikán, the Hungarian animated documentary, and shows the material the film was built out of. Nothing to pay to walk in.
Photo: Mária Óvári / Fővárosi Szabó Ervin Könyvtár 6. Fényrétegek, photographs by Mária Óvári
2 to 30 October, Monday, Wednesday and Friday 13:00 to 19:00, Tuesday and Thursday 10:00 to 16:00, closed at weekends and on 14 and 23 October
Karinthy Frigyes Könyvtár, District XI
A set of photographs hung among the shelves of the Karinthy Frigyes library in Újbuda. Free, and you see it whenever the library is open.
Photo: Magyar Műszaki és Közlekedési Múzeum 7. Öveket becsatolni! at the Északi Járműjavító
20 June to 31 October, Wednesday to Sunday 10:00 to 17:00, closed on 1 October
Északi Járműjavító, District X
The transport museum's show on how getting about was made safer, laid out in the old railway works that will become its new home. The title means fasten your seatbelts.
Photo: Hungarian National Museum 8. The American Dream, Hungarians in the United States 1776 to 2026
30 July to 1 November, Tuesday to Sunday 10:00 to 18:00
Hungarian National Museum, District VIII
Two and a half centuries of Hungarian lives in America, told through the objects and personal mementoes that survived overseas. It fills the grandest rooms the National Museum has.
Photo: KMO Művelődési Központ és Könyvtár 9. Edit Szalma: Képjegyzetek
22 September to 8 November, Monday to Thursday 08:00 to 16:00, Friday usually the same, weekends depending on what else is on
Előtér Galéria, KMO Művelődési Központ, District XIX
Edit Szalma draws for books and poems, and this free show in the KMO’s foyer gallery hangs the results as art in their own right rather than as illustrations.
Photo: Fővárosi Állat- és Növénykert 10. World Press Photo 2026 at Budapest Zoo
25 September to 8 November, Monday to Thursday and Sunday 10:00 to 18:00, Friday, Saturday and 23 October 10:00 to 20:00
Biodóm lobby, Budapest Zoo, District XIV
The year's winning press photographs, shown in the Biodóm lobby at the zoo. It is sold on its own ticket, separate from zoo admission, and keeps its own hours.
Photo: Capa Központ 11. The 44th Hungarian Press Photo exhibition
16 September to 8 November, Tuesday to Friday 13:00 to 18:00, weekends 10:00 to 18:00
Capa Center, Nagymező utca, District VI
The year in Hungarian press photography, picked by an international jury from several thousand entries and hung at the Capa Center.
Photo: Eötvös10 12. Aranymetszés: painters on the golden section
8 October to 8 November, opens 8 October at 17:00, then daily 10:00 to 18:00
Eötvös10 Pincegaléria, District VI
The painting section of the Hungarian Association of Fine and Applied Artists fills the cellar gallery at Eötvös10 with work shaped by the golden section, as part of the Day of Hungarian Painting.
Photo: MáraiKult 13. Napfivér: three painters in the Mária Magdolna tower
8 October to 9 November, opening 8 October at 18:00, then open to visitors from 9 October to 9 November
Mária Magdolna Tower, Kapisztrán tér, District I
Three painters hang new work inside the medieval bell tower that is all that survives of the church of St Mary Magdalene, high in the Castle District. Entry costs nothing.
Photo: Szabadtéri Néprajzi Múzeum Múzeumi Oktatási és Módszertani Központ 14. Múzeumok Őszi Fesztiválja, the autumn museum festival
28 September to 15 November, times vary by museum
Museums across Hungary, Budapest included
Close to 150 museums across Hungary open up for seven weeks of tours, workshops and talks. The Budapest and central Hungary listing is the longest of any region, but this is a national festival, so check where a programme actually is before you set off.
Photo: Angyalföldi József Attila Művelődési Központ 15. Alkotás Öröme, a handicraft exhibition
7 October to 15 November, opens at 15:00 on 7 October, then weekdays 08:00 to 20:00 and at weekends when the centre has something on
Angyalföldi József Attila Művelődési Központ, District XIII
Members of the District XIII club of the Budapest association for people with motor disabilities show what they have been making, under a title that means the joy of making. Tablecloths, sewing boxes, jewellery, dolls and pieces for the home, and nothing to pay.
Photo: Műcsarnok 16. László György Sáros: From Details, Space Itself
18 September to 15 November, Tuesday to Sunday 10:00 to 18:00, Thursday 12:00 to 20:00, closed Mondays, last entry at 17:30 and at 19:30 on Thursdays. The exhibitions close at 17:00 on 20 and 29 October
Műcsarnok, District XIV
The buildings and the photographs of one of the leading figures in Hungarian organic architecture, shown together in the Műcsarnok's Box space.
Photo: Budapest Gallery 17. My heart is crying inside: grief works
4 September to 22 November, 10:00 to 18:00 every day except Monday
Budapest Gallery, Lajos utca, District III
A group show about mourning, and about how completely late capitalist society has pushed death out of ordinary life. Flóra Gadó has gathered a dozen artists on private loss, on care for the dying, and on the rituals communities have lost or rebuilt.
Photo: Műcsarnok 18. József Árendás's posters and drawings at the Műcsarnok
25 September to 22 November, Tuesday to Sunday 10:00 to 18:00, Thursday 12:00 to 20:00, closed Mondays, last entry half an hour before closing
Műcsarnok, District XIV
A condensed retrospective of one of the big names in Hungarian cultural poster design, mounted for his eightieth birthday. Film posters from the 1970s, the theatre posters he began in the eighties, and the ones he has since made purely as art.
Photo: Hungarian National Museum 19. The Treasures of King Louis I (the Great) of Hungary
5 March to 31 December, Tuesday to Sunday 10:00 to 18:00
Hungarian National Museum, Medieval Lapidary, District VIII
A cabinet display of goldsmiths' work, gold coin and finds from the king's seat at Visegrád, from a reign that made medieval Hungary one of the richest kingdoms in Europe. It sits in the museum's Medieval Lapidary.
Photo: Deák17 Galéria 20. LAK|HATÁS, housing seen by young artists
25 September to 8 January
Városháza Park, District V
An open-air show in the park behind City Hall, on what home means to people starting out. The Deák17 gallery picked the work from an open call and hung it outdoors, so you can take it in on the way past.
Photo: Capa Központ 21. Metamorphosis at the Capa Center
7 October to 17 January, Tuesday to Friday 13:00 to 18:00, weekends 10:00 to 18:00, closed Monday
Capa Center, Nagymező utca, District VI
Nine European photographers on the idea that nothing holds its shape for long, from cells and family ties to landscape and the cosmos. The travelling show has already been to Prague, Rouen and Turin, and Budapest is its last stop.
Photo: Ludwig Museum 22. Walk This Way: the art of walking
9 October to 31 January, Tuesday to Sunday from 10:00, closed Monday; English guided tours at 17:00 on 13 and 27 December
Ludwig Museum, in the Müpa building, District IX
An international group show that takes walking seriously as an art form, tracing it from the Dada excursion of 1921 to land art, performance and activism. Two of the December guided tours are in English.
Photo: Maksymilian Paczkowski / Csokonai15 23. Birdo, the year's best bird photographs
2 October to 22 March, in the open air, visiting hours not published
Polgármesteri Hivatal visitor car park, District XV
Winning pictures from Birdo's Az év madárfotósa award, hung along a fence in Rákospalota. Free, outdoors and up all winter.
Photo: Müpa Budapest 24. Leif Ove Andsnes and the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester
Wednesday 21 October, 19:30 to 22:00
Béla Bartók National Concert Hall, Müpa Budapest, District IX
The resident orchestra of Hamburg's Elbphilharmonie plays the Liszt Fest under Alan Gilbert, with the Norwegian pianist Leif Ove Andsnes as soloist.
Photo: Barba Negra 25. Simple Plan at Barba Negra
Wednesday 21 October, doors 18:00, Charlotte Sands from 19:00, Neck Deep 19:45, Simple Plan 21:00
Barba Negra Red Stage, District XXI
The Bigger Than You Think tour reaches Csepel, with Neck Deep and Charlotte Sands opening. Standing tickets are limited and sold online only.
Photo: Barba Negra 26. Marko Hietala at Barba Negra
Wednesday 21 October, doors 18:00
Barba Negra Blue Stage, District XXI
The Finnish rock singer and bassist plays the club room on his European Tour 2026, with Metal De Facto in support. Blue Stage is the smaller of Barba Negra's two rooms, so nobody stands far back.
Photo: House of Music Hungary 27. DOME_CONCERTFILM Vad Fruttik
7 to 31 October, Wednesdays 14:00 to 14:30 and Saturdays 17:30 to 18:00
Sound Dome, House of Music Hungary, City Park, District XIV
Half an hour inside the house's 360 degree cinema, with a Vad Fruttik concert shot on spherical cameras. You end up sitting between the band and the crowd rather than in front of them.
Photo: Műcsarnok 28. Idézőjelek, the Károly Kelemen memorial exhibition
21 October to 10 January, Tuesday to Sunday 10:00 to 18:00, Thursday 12:00 to 20:00, closed Monday; closed on 23 October and 1 November, and open from 13:00 on 7 November
Műcsarnok, Heroes' Square, District XIV
The Műcsarnok's memorial show for Károly Kelemen, who died in 2024, gathers about 150 works and sets out to cover the whole of a career rather than a slice of it.
Photo: Hungarian National Gallery 29. Dedicated Ones: Hungarian women artists
21 October to 14 February, Tuesday to Sunday 10:00 to 18:00, last entry 17:00, closed Monday
Hungarian National Gallery, Buda Castle, District I
More than 130 works by sixty Hungarian women artists working in the first half of the twentieth century. No Hungarian museum has given them a show on this scale before.
Photo: Müpa Budapest 30. Liszt: Christus at Müpa
Thursday 22 October, 19:00 to 22:00
Béla Bartók National Concert Hall, Müpa Budapest, District IX
Christus, the oratorio Liszt wrote on the life of Christ, closes the Liszt Fest at Müpa. Three hours of it, sung by five soloists and two choirs.
Photo: Akvárium Klub 31. Trio Mandili at the Akvárium Klub
Thursday 22 October, doors 19:00
Akvárium Klub Main Hall, Erzsébet tér, District V
Three Georgian singers who went from a phone video on a country road to an international following. This is their own concert, in the Akvárium's biggest room.
Photo: A38 Hajó 32. Fink and Angela Autumn on the A38
Friday 23 October, gates 19:00, concert 20:00
A38, by Petőfi Bridge, District XI
Fin Greenall's band play their quiet blues-folk in the ship's concert hall, with the Appalachian country singer Angela Autumn opening.
Photo: Barba Negra 33. Käärijä at Barba Negra
Friday 23 October, doors 19:00, Little Sis Nora 19:45, Käärijä 21:00
Barba Negra Blue Stage, District XXI
The Finnish singer brings the Eurodisko Tour to the club room on Csepel, with Little Sis Nora opening. The venue flags it as a new home for the Budapest date.
Photo: Puskin Mozi 34. Puskin 100 film festival
25 September to 28 November, one screening most weeks, usually at 19:00, with family matinees at 10:00
Puskin Mozi, District V
The Puskin opened in November 1926 and marks its first hundred years with one unusual screening a week: rarely shown classics, silent films with live music, talks and newsreels.
Photo: MVM Dome 35. The World of Hans Zimmer at the MVM Dome
Saturday 24 October, from 19:00
MVM Dome, Üllői út, District IX
Hans Zimmer's film scores rebuilt as orchestral suites and played by an orchestra, a chorus and his own soloists. The A New Dimension tour is back in Europe and stops in Budapest.
Photo: A38 Hajó 36. Skopje Via on the A38
Saturday 24 October, 19:30, gate opens at 18:30
A38 concert hall, by Petőfi Bridge, District XI
Balkan and Roma songs from a seven-piece Macedonian band, led by the accordionist and composer Mišel Trajkovski and the actress and singer Jana Stojanovska.
Photo: Akvárium Klub 37. DJ Krush at the Akvárium Klub
Saturday 24 October, doors 19:00
Akvárium Klub Small Hall, Erzsébet tér, District V
DJ Krush is back in Budapest for a set in the Akvárium's smaller room. Few DJs this far into a career are still this interested in sounds they have not used before.
Photo: BIFF 38. BIFF, the Budapest International Film Festival
24 October to 1 November, daily, with screenings from late morning to late evening
Corvin Mozi, District VIII
The third BIFF puts 45 festival films through the Corvin over nine days, from the titles the awards season is arguing about to a handful of restored older ones. Films that are not in English carry English subtitles as well as Hungarian, and directors stay for questions after some screenings.
Photo: Uránia Nemzeti Filmszínház 39. Met Live in HD: Verdi's Macbeth at the Uránia
17 to 25 October, 19:00 for the live relay, 18:00 for the repeat
Uránia National Film Theatre, District VIII
A new Metropolitan Opera staging of Verdi's Shakespeare opera, with Lise Davidsen as Lady Macbeth and Quinn Kelsey in the title role. The Uránia takes the live relay from New York on the Saturday and repeats it on the Sunday of the following week.
Photo: Barba Negra 40. Verka Serduchka at Barba Negra
Sunday 25 October
Barba Negra Red Stage, District XXI
Andriy Danylko's comic pop character takes the big room with a full band. Tickets are sold online only, and nothing about the show is understated.
Photo: Vígszínház 41. Vígszínház performances with English surtitles
3 October to 29 November, 19:00, except The Seagull on 17 October at 18:00, The Great Gatsby on 25 October at 14:30 and Pinocchio on 15 November at 17:00
Vígszínház and the Víg Szalon, District XIII
Fourteen performances across thirteen dates carry English surtitles, which is the easy way into a Hungarian repertory company. Pride and Prejudice, Chaplin's The Great Dictator, The Great Gatsby, Chekhov's The Seagull, the family musical Pinocchio and the song cycle Sommerreise are all marked for them.
Photo: Liszt Academy 42. Ferenc Snétberger solo recital at the Liszt Academy
Monday 26 October, 19:30 to 22:00
Grand Hall, Liszt Academy, District VI
One guitarist alone in the Grand Hall, under the title In the Footsteps of Bach. Expect as much improvising as score.
Photo: Bem Mozi 43. Földszint with English subtitles at the Bem
3 to 27 October, times vary by date, between 15:30 and 20:30
Bem Mozi, District II
The Bem puts Gábor Reisz's tragicomedy on with English subtitles half a dozen times across the month. One day in the life of a man who finds a patch of damp on his wall and cannot leave it alone.
Photo: A38 Hajó 44. Ivo Dimchev on the A38
Tuesday 27 October, 20:00, gate opens at 19:00
A38 concert hall, by Petőfi Bridge, District XI
The Bulgarian singer, performer and visual artist brings an evening that sits somewhere between a concert, a piece of theatre and performance art.
Photo: Barba Negra 45. Uriah Heep at Barba Negra
Wednesday 28 October, from 20:00
Barba Negra Red Stage, District XXI
Hard rock veterans on The Magician's Farewell tour, and the last time Hungary is expected to get them on a stage. Mick Box, Bernie Shaw, Phil Lanzon, Russell Gilbrook and Dave Rimmer, with guests.
Photo: Akvárium Klub 46. Budapest Showcase Hub
28 to 30 October, doors from 11:00
Akvárium Klub Small Hall and Lokál, Erzsébet tér, District V
Three days of new music from central and eastern Europe, with acts from Budapest, Prague, Warsaw, Tallinn and places in between. The gigs are free.
Photo: Fővárosi Állat- és Növénykert 47. Halloween evening at Budapest Zoo
Friday 30 October, 18:00 to 23:00
Fővárosi Állat- és Növénykert, District XIV
The zoo shuts at its usual time, then opens the gates again at 18:00 and spends five hours in the dark. Day tickets and zoo passes are not valid for it, and no more than seven thousand people can be on the grounds at once.
Photo: MVM Dome 48. Alphaville at the MVM Dome
Friday 30 October, 20:00
MVM Dome, Üllői út, District IX
The German synth-pop band play what the venue calls the biggest concert of their career in Hungary, with a full-length set and a stage production built for an arena.
Photo: Museum of Fine Arts Budapest 49. Bonjour Monsieur Gauguin at the Museum of Fine Arts
30 October to 28 February, Tuesday to Sunday 10:00 to 18:00, last admission 17:00, closed Monday; one Friday a month it opens 12:00 to 20:00 instead
Museum of Fine Arts, Heroes' Square, District XIV
Hungary's first large-scale Gauguin exhibition, assembled from loans by nearly forty public and private collections. It follows him from Paris and Brittany to Martinique, Tahiti and the Marquesas.
Photo: MVM Dome 50. Boris Brejcha at the MVM Dome
Saturday 31 October, 18:00
MVM Dome, Üllői út, District IX
The masked German producer brings his high-tech minimal sound back to Hungary for a night of electronic music in an arena, with support acts on before his own set.
Photo: Papp László Budapest Sportaréna 51. Harlem Globetrotters: The 100 Year Tour
Saturday 31 October, 19:00
Papp László Budapest Sportaréna, District XIV
A century of trick basketball in one evening: dunks, ball-spinning and the stunts the Globetrotters built their name on, against their long-standing rivals the Washington Generals.