Festival

About us

The 42nd edition of the Budapest Spring Festival, one of Europe’s most prestigious all-arts festivals, is back with a fresh image and concept this year. After last year’s online version, from 29 April on, we can finally welcome you in person at around 100 venues and nearly 170 events for 17 days. We have come up with a genuine urban festival organised with an ever-growing number of partners which now include seven districts.

Our programmes explore the phenomena of our age and place in the world with artistic and cultural means, and many of them offer opportunities to get engaged, share experiences and develop new forms. We hope this will make the festival unique, exciting and contemporary. With a nod to noble traditions yet boldly renewed, BTF showcases international stars and local young artists across genres, continuously shaping the cultural profile of our capital, a European metropolis with exceptional potential.

Máté Gáspár – Head of programming

Gergely Karácsony

Mayor of Budapest

Csaba Faix

CEO of Budapest Brand

Let’s play without taboos!

We love playing – and during it, crying and laughing. We love the theatre to make us think, to upset, distract and address us. To show that it is possible to live differently.

Everything in a different way

We enjoy talking, asking questions and getting information. This festival gives you the opportunity to express your opinion and listen to those of others, e.g., on work, Hungarian identity, ecology and feminism. Make your voice heard and share your story.

European and international impact at the Spring Festival

Budapest is part of Europe’s cultural bloodstream: it is in dialogue with international art and makes its own tangible and timeless value propositions. The Spring Festival brings together international stars and young artists to shape the cultural profile of this exceptional European metropolis.

Dance, space, parade – Take possession of the city!

Throughout the festival, we will have plenty of opportunities to creatively subvert our community spaces, to take possession of them for artistic purposes, to learn more about their history and to enjoy being together.

Mummy, Daddy and children – come along!

ring Festival. Here are some of the activities for the whole family. Children, grandchildren, parents and grandparents are welcome, regardless of age.

Dance, dance, dance – Let’s celebrate the International DANCE Day!

Dance: lifeblood, the bright side of life, an adrenaline rush for body and soul. It’s adorable to watch, but to get the real experience, you need to participate in it, abandoning yourself to the rhythm of the music. The Spring Festival offers plenty of opportunities to do just that, so join in!

Crystal: A new festival venue in the making

This year, the 100-year-old Városmajor Open-Air Stage is launching a new cultural and community space called Kristály Színtér (Crystal) on Margaret Island in the former Bauhaus-style mineral water bottling plant.

The city plays music together: Jamming and America in Budapest

The city will dance, make music, play and celebrate for 17 days and anyone can join in this colourful cavalcade – since we are all contemporaries. We will bring along exciting and diverse performers of various musical genres to this year’s festival, including bohemian jazz, experimental modern or classical music to be explored.

Walk with us in Pest-Buda

A fresh spring stroll as a laid-back festival visit? Yes, this year new genres have been added to the offer of BTF, including #sétálaváros (#thecitywalks), which invites you to explore Budapest’s districts, strolling romantically, looking around and learning. Now we look at what Budafok-Tétény, Újpalota and Óbuda have to offer.

Pieces of a Woman, or a woman taken to pieces

On May 4 and 5, TR Warszava Theatre presents Kata Wéber and Kornél Mundruczó’s play Pieces of a Woman at the Vígszínház.

The city together – the districts together

Budapest is made up of 23 districts, each a distinct and unique universe, a mini city whose built heritage, traditions, cultural scene and creative groups have a unique character and contribute to the city’s distinctive identity. This spring, the festival offers an ever-expanding access to discover these features, with a focus on Districts 3, 15 and 22, in addition to our existing partners Districts 1, 2, 8 and 11.

Because together we are more diverse and stronger

Why stick to a strictly defined genre? This festival is also an opportunity to showcase exciting associations and hidden networks. It is up to you to explore what connections and associations you make, how you relate to the phenomena that shape our lives and how you relate to other people. Here are some events and activities to help you freely redefine and transform the connections and associations you make.

There exists an alternative Budapest

Our city’s hidden treasures are the subcultural circles and the secret resources are the grassroots organisations that shed new light on our reality and strongly question its phenomena. The #altview programme will take you into the hidden world of Budapest if you join us!

Go green!

Do you wonder in what state we have inherited our planet and what we can do to protect it? This is perhaps our most important common cause today, which is why we are exploring it in a variety of genres on the #ecomind journey.