Category Archives: Vajdahunyad Castle Festivals

New Wine & Cheese Festival Vajdahunyad Castle Budapest

The annual New Wine and Cheese Festival Budapest takes place in the romantic fairy tale castle of Budapest, the Vajdahunyad Castle in Varosliget (the big City Park by Heroes’ Square Budapest). The event is one of the lesser known festivals in Budapest, which makes it a hidden gem among the Budapest wine events. The New Wine Festival includes a wide range of activities, set both inside the castle and outside on the castle grounds.

New Wine and Cheese Festival Budapest Vajdahunyad Castle

The dates of the Budapest New Wine are usually end of November – early December. In 2018 the New Wine and Cheese Festival (Ujbor es Sajt Fesztival) will celebrate its 15th anniversary.

Tasting New Wines: here is your chance to taste the less known wines of Hungary, the local wines of limited editions by professional wine makers. Do not miss the new Furmint wines, the iconic Hungarian wine.
Tasting Cheeses from Hungary: home made, delicious cheeses from the countryside of Hungary, made from cow milk, goat milk, most typically, with wonderful flavors!
Wine Fair: needless to say, You can buy the Hungarian new wines and cheeses you find incredibly good
And the Winner is…. Hungarian New Wine contest: which is the best new wine in Hungary?
Consecration of the Advent Wine and Cheese: the religious element of the New Wine Festival following the St Martin’s Day events
Charity in Budapest New Wine Festival: there is always a nice charity fund raising at the festival where you can help a bit those in need.
Procession of the Hungarian Wine Order members: a nice parade in the wine order uniforms, a sight in itself
the language of the festival is – mostly – Hungarian

: Tasting Hungarian Wines at New Wine and Cheese Festival Budapest Vajdahunyad Castle

: New Wine and Cheese Festival Budapest Vajdahunyad Castle

: Wine Orders at New Wine and Cheese Festival Budapest Vajdahunyad Castle

The Vajdahunyad Castle is the home of the Hungarian Agricultural Museum, and a regular festival venue.

Summer Music Festival Vajdahunyad Castle

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Visiting Budapest in summer time has the advantage of getting the opportunity to enjoy some of the finest summer events in the city, like the Vajdahunyad Castle Summer Music Festival in July and August.

Summer Music Festival Vajdahunyad Castle

The dates of the Vajdahunyad Vari Zenei Fesztival change year by year, most probably be set between July and August based on the customary dates of previous years. Please check back for more details, and booking tickets for the concerts in June.

Summer Concerts in Vajdahunyad Var

Vajdahunyad Castle Summer Music Festival (Source: Hirado.hu)

The summer festival features a series of concerts on the courtyard of the fairy tale castle of Vajdahunyad Var. Not only is the castle itself a romantic venue, but also the surrounding area of the City Park with many of Budapest beautiful attractions, from Szechenyi Baths to the Art Nouveau Budapest Zoo, or the Millennium Monument on the Heroes’ Square flanked by two art museums.

The mostly classical music concerts are staged at the Gothic and Renaissance buildings of the eclectic Vajdahunyad Castle.

The concerts of the Vajdahunyad Castle Summer Music Festival (Vajdahunyad Vari Nyari Zenei Fesztival) are in July and August. Most of the concerts are scheduled for Friday, Saturday or Sunday. Tickets to the concerts are very reasonably priced (approx. HUF 4,000 / €18). The prices are flat prices, no seats are numbered.

The Summer Music Festival concerts usually start at about 8:30 pm, and most events are scheduled for the weekends.
The concerts include pieces from operettas, classical music pieces, operas, etc. and are often accompanied with dance performances.

A short video about the Vajdahunyad Vari Music Festival (in Hungarian, but it is a good taster of the atmosphere of the festival concerts)

Orchid Festival in Vajdahunyad Castle Budapest

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Do you love orchids? Visit the Spring Festival of Orchids and Bromelia in the Hungarian Agricultural Museum residing in the fairy tale like Vajdahunyad Castle in the City Park of Budapest.

Orchid Exhibition Budapest Vajdahunyad Castle Cesar Cabrera

Orchid Festival Budapest Vajdahunyad Castle – Cesar Cabrera Photography

The April weekend will feature various orchids and bromelia flowers, as well as orchid workshops and advice on how to keep orchids healthy and thriving, how to replant orchids, how to prevent or treat orchid diseases and more.

The event is frequently organized by the Hungarian Orchid Society. The Orchid Festival in Budapest is a highlighted Budapest festival, much liked by amateurs and professionals alike, also organized in the autumn season, some time in mid November.

It was the Renaissance king of Hungary, King Matthias (whose name you can recall from the Matthias Church on the Buda Castle Hill) who had many orchid varieties in the beautiful, Renaissance garden of the Buda Castle Royal Palace in the 15th century.

: Orchid Festival Budapest Vajdahunyad Castle

: Orchid Festival Budapest

The fantastic Italian Renaissance gardens made a deep impression on the enlightened king (whose wife Queen Beatrice was from Italy too). While the famous garden survived the attacks of the Ottoman Turks who finally occupied the Buda Castle in the 1541 siege, in 1686, when the Hungarians and Austrians took back the castle from the Turkish sultan, the garden, along with the medieval royal castle was completely destroyed.

In the 18th century Maria Theresa, the Austro Hungarian Empress, had the terraces of the then Baroque Buda Castle turned into a beautiful terrace garden overlooking the river Danube. Then later, in the 19th century the garden was opened to the public by Archduke Joseph, Palatine of Hungary. After the 1849 siege when the Austrians conquered the Hungarian revolution, Franz Joseph had the garden restored. The first greenhouses of the Buda Castle Garden (Budavari Kert, Varkerteszet) were founded in 1854. In the 1870s, the Buda Castle Garden Bazaar (Varkert Bazar) designed by Miklos Ybl (the architect of the Budapest Opera House) made a fascinating and harmonious connection between the Buda Castle and the River Danube Promenade with its Neo-Baroque garden design

Unfortunately, You will not have a chance to see the authentic Hungarian orchid Cattleya hybrids (Blc Budavar) as the glass houses of the Hungarian orchid growing were exploded in the 1944 WW2 bombings. We only know about the hybrid from the documents that survived. But you may see some distantly related local varieties.

The Buda Castle Garden is now waiting for its historical restoration. The gardens of the Royal Palace have special micro climates due to the thick walls and hilltop locations. One of the lesser known garden of the Buda Castle gardens is the New World Garden, which can be reached on foot from the Lion Court, via the closed gardens of the Budapest History Museum.

Hungarian Handcraft Masterpieces