Things to do in Budapest this weekend
Friday 25 to Sunday 27 September
What’s on in Budapest from Friday to Sunday, from festivals to a garage sale across a whole garden suburb.
Photo: Banff Hegyifilm Fesztivál 1. Banff Mountain Film Festival world tour
23 to 25 September, screenings at 18:00, 18:30, 20:00 and 20:30
Cinema City Mammut I, District II
Nine short climbing, skiing, mountain biking, skateboarding and Arctic expedition films from this year’s world tour, split into two programmes of 90 and 83 minutes. Most films are in English, with English subtitles where needed.
Photo: A38 Hajó 2. The Qualitons on the A38
Friday 25 September, 19:30
A38, by Petőfi Bridge, District XI
The Hungarian band behind a mix of sixties and seventies psychedelia, garage rock and soul play their big autumn show, in more acoustic arrangements and with a guest. Part of the Újbuda Jazz Festival.
Photo: Müpa Budapest 3. Recirquel’s Paradisum at Müpa
23 to 26 September, 19:00 to 20:00
Festival Theatre, Müpa Budapest, District IX
The new show from Bence Vági’s company Recirquel, which blends contemporary dance and circus into what it calls cirque danse. Paradisum tells its story through movement alone, so no Hungarian is needed.
4. Researchers’ Night: free science events
25 to 26 September, Friday and Saturday
Universities and research institutes across the city
Labs, universities and research institutes open up for Kutatók Éjszakája, with experiments, lab tours, talks and hands-on activities, all free, though some need registering. The programme search has a filter for events suited to non-Hungarian speakers.
Photo: Hagyományok Háza 5. Fecskehajtó: a new folk festival at the Budai Vigadó
25 to 26 September, Friday from 11:00, Saturday from 10:00, into the evening
Budai Vigadó and Corvin tér, District I
A new two-day festival celebrating three birthdays at once: the Hagyományok Háza at 25, the Hungarian State Folk Ensemble at 75 and the Budai Vigadó at 125. Folk concerts, dance, a parade and a light show on the building, and most of it is free.
Photo: Trafó House of Contemporary Arts 6. Country and city: a ten-day focus at Trafó
18 to 27 September, times vary; installations open from 16:00 on most days
Trafó, Liliom utca, District IX
Ten days of performances, installations, concerts and exhibitions about how the countryside and the city depend on each other. Tickets are pay what you can, and Trafó marks the programme as English friendly.
Photo: Műcsarnok 7. Last week of the national photography salon at the Műcsarnok
5 June to 27 September, Tuesday to Sunday 10:00 to 18:00, Thursday 12:00 to 20:00 (closes at 17:00 on 24 September)
Műcsarnok, Heroes’ Square, District XIV
Paths and Crossroads, the national photography salon held every five years, shows work by more than 150 Hungarian photographers. It closes on Sunday 27 September.
8. Walk, Hands, Eyes: see the city with your eyes shut
25 to 27 September, walks start 14:00 to 18:30 on Friday, 13:00 to 17:30 at the weekend
Starts at Trafó, District IX
Myriam Lefkowitz’s one-to-one performance: a guide leads you through the city for an hour with your eyes closed, asking you to open them only for brief glimpses. Almost nothing is said. Pay what you can, ages 6 and up.
Photo: Toldi Mozi 9. English-language films at the Toldi
22 to 30 September, daily, times vary by film
Toldi Mozi, District V
The Toldi, an art-house cinema in central Budapest, shows a steady run of films you can follow in English. Over the next week that means eight films, from The Birthday Party to Resident Evil.
Photo: Capa Központ 10. Two closing photography shows at the Capa Center
2 to 30 September, Tuesday to Friday 13:00 to 18:00, weekends 10:00 to 18:00
Capa Center, Nagymező utca, District VI
Two photography shows in their last days: the MOME Photography MA degree show on the idea of home, which closes on 27 September, and Capazine: Let's Code!, on AI-generated images, which runs until 30 September.
Photo: Corvin Mozi 11. 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 12. 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: Oktoberfest Budapest 13. 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.
Photo: Hungarian National Museum 14. 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.
Photo: Kult2 15. 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 16. 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.
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: Wekerlei Garázsvásár 18. A whole garden suburb turns into a garage sale
Saturday 26 September, from 09:00
Wekerletelep, Kispest, District XIX
Residents of the Wekerle estate open their courtyards to second-hand sellers for a day, in a century-old garden suburb that is worth a wander anyway. It is run by volunteers.
Photo: Duna-Ipoly Nemzeti Park 19. Michaelmas cattle drive at Dinnyés
Saturday 26 September, 09:00 to 12:00
Dinnyés, Fejér County
Hungarian grey cattle and racka sheep come off the summer pasture and head for their winter quarters, and Duna-Ipoly National Park walks a group out with them. The birds that live off the grazing herds are half the reason to go.
Photo: Museum of Ethnography 20. English tour of the Museum of Ethnography building
26 to 27 September, 11:00 and 14:30
Museum of Ethnography, City Park, District XIV
A 25-minute introduction in English to the Museum of Ethnography's award-winning building in City Park, before you explore on your own. These are the last dates. Ticketed, on top of museum entry.