Festival's News
- 28 February 2011 - Budapest Spring Festival with respect to the EU presidency and the Liszt Year
- 22 August 2006 - Programme Card 2006 Budapest Spring and Autumn Festival
Contact info
Address
Szervita tér 5
1052 Budapest
Hungary
http://www.festivalcity.hu/
Info
Tel: +36 1 486 33 00
Fax: +36 1 486 33 10
info@festivalcity.hu
http://www.festivalcity.hu/
Szervita tér 5
HU-1052 Budapest
Administration
Tel: +36 1 486 33 00
Fax: +36 1 486 33 10
info@festivalcity.hu
http://www.festivalcity.hu
Tickets
Tel: +36 1 486 33 11
Fax: +36 1 486 33 10
email@festivalcity.hu
Press
Tel: +36 1 486 33 00
Fax: +36 1 486 33 10
info@festivalcity.hu
Budapest Festival Center
Budapest has become a Festival City primarily because of the Spring Festival that has gained world-wide reputation in recent years. Foreigners and local residents come in flock to the opening gala. At the beginning of the festival, it was one of the main objectives of the organizers to boost tourism, to fill hotels and restaurants, as well as concert halls already during an off-peak season. By now, thanks to the tireless efforts of the Budapest festival Center Kht., this touristic off-peak season has turned into a cultural peakseason.
This festival has been an EFA member since 1978.
Festival Programme
Each EFA member manages its own Calendar. In case there is no programme availabable for this year, please visit the festival's own website.
History
The Budapest Spring Festival was first organised by the Hungarian State Tourist Office in 1981. In those days Hungarian hotels were all but empty until Easter, which prompted the idea of organising a festival to boost the tourist industry in spring, before the round of European festivals began.
The organisers intend the festival programme to feature all the arts, so that all sections of the public of any age can attend the events of their choice, whether they are classical music aficionados or devotees of light entertainment. The programme now covers opera, ballet, theatre, exhibitions, open-air events, folk art and sport in addition to concerts.
The history of the Festival can be divided into three periods:
1981 - 1990
1991 - 1996
and from 1997 onwards
From 1981 to 1990 the Festival was organised by the Tourist Office, with the motto "10 days, 100 locations, 1000 events". Besides outstanding Hungarian artists living at home, the organisers also invited as many émigré artists as possible, for the Hungarian public to meet them again after their long absence. During this period, the Festival hosted such personalities as the conductor Antal Doráti, the pianists György Cziffra, Péter Frankl, Tamás Vásáry and András Schiff, the opera singer Éva Marton, the painter Viktor Vasarely, and the sculptor Amerigo Tot. The programme was centred on the giants of Hungarian art, but representatives of lighter genres also had a prominent role.
In the second phase, from 1991 to 1996, the Festival was organised by the Interart Festival Center" (the International Publicity and Festival Office), with the motto "the Festival is the festival of festivals". This involved giving festival status to individual series, including Musica Sacra, Musica Antiqua, Musica Nova, Crescendo (supporting young musicians), Interballet, Interfolk etc. The most prominent of these was the contemporary music series Musica Nova. Although the Festival had a well-defined theme for each year of this period, a host of famous artists and ensembles were invited.
In autumn 1996, the Budapest Festival Center was engaged to organise the Festival, opening a third chapter in the Festival’s history. Although the "festival of festivals" motto has been retained, the programme once again represents all the arts. The organisers have been trying to create a more exuberant festival atmosphere in the capital by getting residents and tourists, from both Hungary and abroad, to notice what is going on.
The programmes for these years continue to include a multitude of artists and ensembles from at home and abroad.
Over the years 9 country towns have joined the Spring Festival: Debrecen, Gödöllo, Gyor, Kaposvár, Kecskemét, Pécs, Sopron, Szentendre and Szombathely. These towns are organising festivals with their own regional programmes.
