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 in October 2026
1. Sárik Péter Trió play Bartók at KULT7
Thursday 1 October, 19:00
KULT7, District VII
One of Hungary's best known jazz trios reworks Bartók's piano and choral music as jazz. The concert marks World Music Day in Erzsébetváros.
Photo: KMO Művelődési Központ és Könyvtár 2. Zenél Kispest, street concerts for World Music Day
Thursday 1 October, 17:00 to 18:00, with the rolling piano out from 12:00
Streets, squares and shopping centres across Kispest, District XIX
For one hour Kispest hands its streets, squares and shopping centres over to musicians who all start playing at the same moment. Walk between them and you can hear Irish music, a cello orchestra and a brass band in an afternoon.
Photo: A38 Hajó 3. Küszöb on the A38 roof terrace
Thursday 1 October, gates 18:00, concert 19:00
A38 roof terrace, by Petőfi Bridge, District XI
Küszöb are changing line-up, and this is the last time the original band play together. They are marking five years with a big concert on the ship's roof terrace, above the Danube.
Photo: Corvin Mozi 4. Korean Film Festival at the Corvin
25 September to 2 October, from 12:00 on 26 and 27 September, 18:00 and 20:00 on most other days, and one film at 18:00 on the opening and closing nights
Corvin Mozi, District VIII
Twenty-four Korean features over eight days, all subtitled in English as well as Hungarian, from the historical drama that became the second most-watched film in South Korean history to a comic zombie story adapted from a webtoon. Visiting directors take questions after three of the screenings.
Photo: Pilisi Parkerdő 5. Stag roaring walks from the Budakeszi Vadaspark
25 September to 4 October, gather from 17:45, walks leave at 18:00
Budakeszi Vadaspark car park, Budakeszi
Evening walks in the Buda hills during the rut, when red deer stags bellow across the clearings and clash antlers. The Budapest foresters of Pilisi Parkerdő lead one every night, and they are straight about it: hearing the roaring is not guaranteed.
Photo: UH Fest 6. UH Fest: experimental music across eight venues
28 September to 4 October, evenings, with afternoon starts at the weekend
Eight venues, opening at Trafó, District IX
A week of experimental music at eight venues including Trafó, Turbina and Gólya: 41 acts from more than 20 countries, from noise and drone to dub, free jazz and folk. Buy tickets night by night, or a pass for the week.
Photo: Hungarian National Museum 7. Souls/Alive: drawings by children with cancer
3 September to 4 October, 10:00 to 18:00 every day except Monday
Hungarian National Museum, District VIII
Drawings by 195 children from Hungary and Hungarian communities across the Carpathian Basin, all of them living with cancer. They were not asked to draw the illness. They were asked to draw whatever mattered to them.
8. Budapest International Book Festival
1 to 4 October, Thursday 12:00 to 20:00, Friday and Saturday 10:00 to 20:00, Sunday 10:00 to 19:00
Hungexpo, District X
Four days of Hungarian and international publishing under one roof, with Germany, Austria and Switzerland sharing the guest of honour slot and the Irish novelist Colm Tóibín as guest author. Entry costs nothing.
Photo: Cirko Film 9. Földszint at the Cirko-Gejzír
1 to 7 October, three or four screenings a day, between 14:00 and 21:00
Cirko-Gejzír, District V
Gábor Reisz's new tragicomedy, a Hungarian-Italian production that spends one day inside a single block of flats. Every screening listed at the Cirko-Gejzír carries English subtitles.
Photo: Hegyvidék Galéria 10. Rumináció: Dóra Vanda Demcsák’s cows
11 September to 8 October, Tuesday to Friday 10:00 to 18:00, Saturday 10:00 to 14:00
Hegyvidék Galéria, District XII
Life-size cow torsos in metal and papier mâché, each one more eaten away than the last, until nothing is left but the plinth. Dóra Vanda Demcsák builds the show on the parallel between a cow chewing the cud and a mind chewing over the same thought.
Photo: Kult2 11. The ballpoint pen inventor’s other inventions
24 September to 11 October, daily 10:00 to 18:00
Klebelsberg Kultúrkúria, Pesthidegkút, District II
A free exhibition on László József Bíró, who invented the ballpoint pen and also an automatic gearbox and an electromagnetic transmission device later used on Japan’s high-speed railway.
Photo: Hungarian National Museum 12. Treasure of the month: a thaler hoard from Somló Hill
31 August to 18 October, 10:00 to 18:00 every day except Monday
Hungarian National Museum, District VIII
Twenty-seven silver thalers, turned up by a plough at the foot of Somló Hill in June and in a case in Budapest by the end of the summer. They went into the ground during the Fifteen Years' War and nobody ever came back for them.
13. Országos Étterem Hét, Hungary's restaurant week
1 to 18 October, lunch and dinner sittings, booked ahead
Restaurants across Budapest and beyond
More than 160 Budapest restaurants put on a three-course set menu for eighteen days, booked ahead through one website. It is the run of the year to try a kitchen you would otherwise walk past.
Photo: Mai Manó Ház 14. 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.
15. 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.
16. 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: KMO Művelődési Központ és Könyvtár 17. 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 18. 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.
19. 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.
20. 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: Budapest Gallery 21. 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: Deák17 Galéria 22. 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: Papp László Budapest Sportaréna 23. Deep Purple at the Budapest Arena
Friday 2 October, doors 18:00, Jayler 19:00, Deep Purple 20:00
Papp László Budapest Sportaréna, District XIV
Deep Purple bring their European and British tour to the arena, more than five decades on from the records that set the shape of hard rock. The British band Jayler open.
Photo: Oktoberfest Budapest 24. Oktoberfest on Margaret Island
25 September to 4 October, Friday 17:00 to 23:00, Saturday 14:00 to 23:00, Sunday 12:00 to 21:00
Paulaner Sörkert, Margaret Island, District XIII
A big marquee in the Paulaner beer garden on Margaret Island, with Munich festival beers, Bavarian food and live brass bands over two weekends. Entry is free, and a second site on Erzsébet tér runs the same weekends.
25. Budapest Contemporary art fair
2 to 4 October, 10:00 to 19:00 daily
Bálna Budapest, District IX
A contemporary art fair held for the first time this year, filling the Bálna on the Pest riverbank with work from today's galleries.
Photo: Puskin Mozi 26. 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.
27. Pincejárat: a free minibus round the Budafok cellars
Saturday 3 October, minibuses hourly from 14:30, the last one out at 20:30
Budafok-Tétény Town Hall, District XXII
On the first Saturday of the month a free minibus loops between the cellars of Budafok, Budapest's wine quarter, and stops only where something is on. This one has tastings, guided cellar walks, a sommelier's workshop and a wine quiz with live music.
Photo: Csokonai Kulturális Központ 28. Community clothes swap in Rákospalota
Saturday 3 October, 10:00 to 16:00
Csokonai Rendezvényház, Rákospalota, District XV
Bring the clothes you have stopped wearing, take away somebody else’s, and no money changes hands either way. The district’s culture centre runs it for a day, with adults’ and children’s clothes both in the mix.
Photo: We love Dogz 29. DOGZ great pack walk along Andrássy út
Saturday 3 October, from 10:00, walking off at 10:30 and finishing at 14:00
Szent István tér to the Városliget
Several hundred dogs and their owners walk the length of Andrássy út together, from the Basilica to the Városliget. Taking part costs nothing, but you have to register first.
30. Jane Goodall Festival
Saturday 3 October, 10:00 to 18:00
Marczibányi Téri Művelődési Központ, District II
A day given over to Jane Goodall's legacy and to what hope put into action can do, run by her institute's Hungarian association. Places are limited and registration is open.
Photo: MáraiKult 31. Zenta town brass band on the castle terrace
Saturday 3 October, from 14:00
Savoyai terrace, Budavári Palotanegyed, District I
The closing concert of Budavár's outdoor music series, played on the Danube-facing terrace beside the equestrian statue of Prince Eugene of Savoy. Walk up and listen.
Photo: Fővárosi Állat- és Növénykert 32. Állatszeretet ünnep, an animal day at Budapest Zoo
Saturday 3 October, 10:00 to 16:00
Fővárosi Állat- és Növénykert, District XIV
Hands-on stations spread through the zoo, about saving species and the places they live, run with conservation groups. Nothing extra to pay on top of a zoo ticket or annual pass.
Photo: Újpesti Kulturális Központ 33. Kacatoló, the children's flea market in Újpest
Saturday 3 October, 09:00 to 12:00
Ifjúsági Ház, District IV
Children aged six to eighteen sell and swap the toys they have outgrown. Getting in costs nothing and neither does a table, but tables have to be booked first.
34. Oktoberfest's Aprés Ski Soirée at the Normafa Síház
Saturday 3 October, from 12:00 on Saturday until 04:00 on Sunday
Normafa Síház, District XII
Oktoberfest Budapest closes with an all-night hütte party in the ski house up at Normafa, in the Buda hills. This is the festival's third site, not the beer garden on Margaret Island.
35. A Csend Ünnepe, a community day on the Aszódi estate
Saturday 3 October, from 14:00
Madaras József tér, District IX
Ferencváros's cultural centre puts on an afternoon and evening for the Aszódi estate, and anyone can turn up. Music, games and hands-on craft workshops in the square, and every part of the programme is free.
Photo: Józsefvárosi Önkormányzat 36. Józsefvárosi Cicafeszt, cats to meet and adopt
Saturday 3 October, 11:00 to 17:00
Kesztyűgyár Közösségi Ház, District VIII
The district council and the Macskavilág Foundation fill the Kesztyűgyár with cats looking for homes, and you can meet them whether or not you are taking one. Around them runs a programme aimed squarely at children.
Photo: Óbudai Kulturális Központ 37. Mariann Falusi sings country and klezmer
Saturday 3 October, 19:00
3K Kaszásdűlői Kulturális Központ, District III
Country and klezmer in one set, which is not a pairing you meet often. Mariann Falusi makes the case for both, with a four-piece band behind her.
38. Sustainability weekend at the Skanzen
3 to 4 October, 9:00 to 17:00 on both days
Skanzen open air museum, Szentendre
The open air museum north of Budapest gives a weekend to what old village households managed without: no chemicals, no packaging, no mains power. Plant dyeing, beeswax wraps and a mill turned by hand, spread across three of its village districts.
Photo: Magyar Fürdőszövetség 39. Szaunázók Hétvégéje, the sauna weekend
3 to 4 October, the shared pour at 16:00 on the Saturday, other sessions set by each bath
Baths across Hungary, the Széchenyi among them in Budapest
The Hungarian Baths Association opens the sauna season with a weekend of guided pours at baths around the country. At 16:00 on the Saturday every one of them runs the same themed session at the same moment.
Photo: Uránia Nemzeti Filmszínház 40. Met Live in HD: Mozart's Così fan tutte at the Uránia
3 to 11 October, 19:00 for the live relay, 18:00 for the repeat
Uránia National Film Theatre, District VIII
The Metropolitan Opera's season of cinema broadcasts opens with Mozart's comedy of two men who test their fiancées in disguise. The Uránia takes the live relay from New York on the Saturday and repeats it the following Sunday.
Photo: Nemzeti Botanikus Kert 41. Földi Javak craft fair and family day at Vácrátót
Sunday 4 October, 10:00 to 17:00
Nemzeti Botanikus Kert, Vácrátót
The botanical garden's own autumn fair: stalls of plants and homemade food, craft goods made from natural materials, and workshops around the grounds. Vácrátót is about an hour from the city.
Photo: Papp László Budapest Sportaréna 42. ASAP Rocky at the Budapest Arena
Monday 5 October, from 20:00
Papp László Budapest Sportaréna, District XIV
The American rapper brings the Don't Be Dumb tour to the arena, with songs from his first album in eight years.
Photo: Uránia Nemzeti Filmszínház 43. NT Live's Hamlet at the Uránia
Tuesday 6 October, 19:00
Uránia National Film Theatre, District VIII
The National Theatre's recording of its contemporary Hamlet, with Hiran Abeysekera in the title role. The Uránia screens it in English, with English subtitles.
Photo: Papp László Budapest Sportaréna 44. Synthony: A Generation of Dance Music
Thursday 8 October, from 19:00
Papp László Budapest Sportaréna, District XIV
Dance anthems rearranged for a live orchestra, played with DJs, singers and a wall of visuals. The European tour stops at the arena for one night.
Photo: Liszt Fest 45. Autechre at the House of Music
Thursday 8 October, doors 19:00, Autechre from 21:30
House of Music Hungary, City Park, District XIV
The British electronic duo play the City Park concert hall in complete darkness, on a Liszt Fest bill that opens at 20:00.
Photo: Kobuci Kert 46. Folk Error's twentieth birthday concert
Thursday 8 October, 20:00
Kobuci Kert, District III
Folk Error turn twenty and are marking it back at the Kobuci. The garden's open-air season has only days left to run, so this is one of its last nights of the year.
47. 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.
48. 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: MVM Dome 49. Péter Bence at the MVM Dome
Saturday 10 October, gates 18:30, concert 20:00
MVM Dome, Üllői út, District IX
The Hungarian piano virtuoso comes home with a brand-new programme, and with a guest whose name the organisers are keeping quiet until the night.
Photo: A38 Hajó 50. Allie X on the A38
Saturday 10 October, gates 18:00, concert 19:00
A38, by Petőfi Bridge, District XI
The Canadian pop writer and producer brings her Serial Diva tour to the ship's concert hall, setting the new songs against the records that made her name.
Photo: Kobuci Kert 51. ZÁRÓBUGI, the Kobuci's season-closing dance
Saturday 10 October, from 22:01
Kobuci Kert, District III
The Kobuci shuts its garden gate on the open-air season with a free dance that starts a minute after ten. It follows the 30Y concert earlier the same evening, and it is the last outdoor dance of the year there.
Photo: Kőrösi Csoma Sándor Kőbányai Kulturális Központ 52. Kőbánya Napja, a retro day at the Kőrösi
Saturday 10 October, 10:10 to 20:00
Kőrösi cultural centre, District X
The Kőrösi hands its rooms over to the socialist decades for a day, with a Trabant and an Ikarus bus parked up, a retro buffet, a room of vinyl and a fashion show. Free to walk into, and Hungarian throughout.
Photo: Budapest Sportiroda 53. SPAR Budapest Marathon Festival
10 to 11 October, Saturday races from 8:00, Sunday races from 9:00
Pázmány Péter sétány, District XI
Budapest’s biggest running weekend, with the marathon itself on the Sunday and a field drawn from more than 120 countries. Watching is free and the Danube bank turns into a two-day street festival, though the races themselves are entered in advance and most of them charge. Saturday keeps to the shorter races, nothing longer than 10 km, with city walking tours of up to about 21.5 km alongside them.
Photo: Aeropark 54. Ferihegyi Ikarus Találkozó, Hungarian buses at Aeropark
10 to 11 October, 09:00 to 18:00 on both days, with the bus parade from 16:00 on the Sunday
Aeropark, Budapest Airport, District XVIII
More than a hundred Ikarus buses gather among the old airliners at the airport museum, and plenty of them are running. You can ride a rear-engined one out to the old Terminal 1 and back.
Photo: Müpa Budapest 55. The Cleveland Orchestra at Müpa
Tuesday 13 October, 19:30 to 21:30
Béla Bartók National Concert Hall, Müpa Budapest, District IX
Franz Welser-Möst brings one of America's finest orchestras to the Liszt Fest, in his last season as its music director. Liszt, Martinů and Brahms in one programme.
Photo: Papp László Budapest Sportaréna 56. Molière. L'Opéra Urbain at the Budapest Arena
15 to 18 October, Thursday and Friday 20:00, Saturday 15:00 and 20:00, Sunday 14:00
Papp László Budapest Sportaréna, District XIV
The French musical about Molière, voted the country's best original show after its Paris premiere, plays five performances at the arena over four days.
Photo: MVM Dome 57. André Rieu at the MVM Dome
16 to 17 October, gates 18:00, concert 19:30
MVM Dome, Üllői út, District IX
The Dutch violinist and his orchestra are back in Budapest for two nights, and the showmanship is as much the point as the playing.
Photo: Müpa Budapest 58. 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: Hungarian National Gallery 59. 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 60. 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: A38 Hajó 61. 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: MVM Dome 62. 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.
63. 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.