Hungarian Conservative

The Ratha-yātrā Chariot Festival will be held for the 28th time in Budapest this Saturday; it will later merge with the India Festival held in City Park on the same day. The programmes are free to attend.

Azahriah will be the first Hungarian singer in a long time to perform in the pre-headlining slot. The young talent recently filled the Puskás Arena three times in a row, and will now perform on the main stage of Sziget to a swelling audience of 60–70,000 people.

Organized in celebration of Earth Day, the three-day festival offers a rich programme of activities and experiences related to environmental and nature conservation.

This year’s Sziget Festival will take place from 7 to 12 August. Among the headliners announced on Wednesday is American singer Halsey, who has already received three Billboard Music Awards, an American Music Award, and has been nominated for a Grammy three times. The superstar is preparing for a new album release this year.

Discussions will be held in foreign languages, with interpretation provided for the audience by the organizers. Books by the authors will also be available for purchase on the spot, with book signings.

Among the nominees for Category B of the New European Bauhaus Prize there is a Hungarian project titled Cooperative Ownership for Communities. It aims to create a multifunctional space by transforming a four-story building in one of Budapest’s old industrial areas. The New European Bauhaus Prizes 2024 Ceremony will be held during the New European Bauhaus Festival in Brussels between 9 and ⁠13 April.

MITEM and the grand theatrical Olympics have opened a new chapter in cultural diplomacy. Entering its second decade, the meeting bears witness to cohesion, mutual respect, interest, the enriching power of diversity.

The Budapest Architecture Film Festival is held between 7 and 10 March at the Toldi Cinema. This year’s motto, People Behind, highlights the numerous and passionate creative individuals who work behind the scenes in the construction of buildings and cities.

The exhibition titled What Does the Cziffra File Conceal? — The Emigrant Pianist: György Cziffra and State Security, open until 14 September at the Historical Archives of the State Security Services building, utilizes numerous previously unpublished documents and sources, primarily archival records and photographs, to illustrate various periods of György Cziffra’s life and art, as well as the workings of state security.

At the event, visitors will have a chance to acquaint themselves with various dances across different age groups, engage in dance houses, enjoy stage performances, browse through the folk art fair, and participate in handicraft workshops.

The European Festival Awards serve as a platform to acknowledge and celebrate the outstanding contributions of festivals across Europe. From showcasing remarkable performances to fostering community engagement and promoting cultural diversity, these awards recognize the festivals that go above and beyond in creating memorable experiences for attendees.

‘Based on early ticket sales, we can see a tremendous interest in the 2024 festival. Next year, Sziget will once again host major global stars,
top performers of the day, and freshly discovered, contemporary musical gems,’ Tamás Kádár, the main organizer wrote in a statement.

The festival’s highlighted theme is the world of historical comics. Enthusiasts can hear from renowned experts and practitioners in a roundtable discussion about the depiction of past events in comic panels. Attendees can get a glimpse into the world of French historical comics, engage in exciting discussions about the symbolism of swords in mythology and comics.

Gábor Reisz’s third feature film, Explanation for Everything, is also part of the official programme, in the Orizzonti section. Additionally, Dorka Vermes’ debut feature, Arni, will be presented in the College Cinema section.

Norbert Lobenwein, one of the founders of the festival, stated that despite preparing for survival before the season, the Strand Festival started its first day with a full house and a lot of people are expected for the weekend as well.

The Tranzit Festival in Tihany begins today. Beside Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, opposition politicians will also participate in the event. Márton Békés, chief editor of the organising Kommentár magazine, spoke with Mandiner about what to expect at the conservative intellectual gathering, the culture war, and more.

Tamás Kádár proudly announced that the total attendance of Sziget this year was estimated at over 420,000. He added that although it is less than last year, the company cannot complain.

The Sziget Festival will last six days, until 15 August, on the Óbuda Island in Budapest. Performers from sixty-two countries will arrive at approximately forty venues, and the audience will come from over a hundred countries.

Spread across 76 hectares, this year’s festival was set up in three weeks. The maximum daily capacity is 90,000 people, including both festival staff and attendees, making Sziget the country’s tenth largest city for the six days of the festival. The main stage was constructed in ten days, with a floor area of over a thousand square metres and a six hundred square metre LED wall serving as its backdrop.

Former Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz told the audience in Esztergom that he had a great relationship with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán during his time in public office. The two statesmen were among the first to raise concerns about the incoming wave of migration into Europe back in 2015. Meanwhile, Michael Knowles took a strong stance against transgenderism and talked at length about the difference between the liberal and conservative understanding of freedom.

 ‘There are few Hungarian brands in the entertainment industry like the Sziget Festival, and we will forever be grateful to its founders for creating it. We are planning a grand celebration this year, which also signifies the beginning of a new era for us: we not only want to preserve the legacy of the past 30 years but also lay the foundation for the next 30,’ Tamás Kádár stated at a press conference in May.

Gábor Reisz, known for his previous films For Some Inexplicable Reason and Bad Poems, will present his third feature film in the official selection of the A-category festival. The film’s director, cast, producer, and crew members will accompany the film to Venice.

The third annual MCC Feszt in Esztergom, Hungary is expected to have 40,000 people in attendance, more than ever before. The Day1 programme featured many well-known musical acts as well as a panel a discussion about the major shifts in the state of geopolitics, with Gladden J. Pappin, Dean Karalekas, Benjamin Freidman, and Michael Hume.

Several baths will offer discounted entry fees and extended opening hours to accommodate those who want to swim and party, with some locations even staying open until three in the morning.

At this year’s MCC Feszt, a now traditional music festival and intellectual gathering for conservative-minded young and not-so-young audiences, former Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz and US conservative political commentator and media host Michael Knowles will also be among the speakers.

The Hungarian Defence Forces’ JAS-39 Gripen fighter aircraft and H145M and Mi-24 helicopters will fly over the Ludovika campus on Saturday as part of the Ludovika Festival in Budapest.