If you have ever tried Hungarian specialties like gulyás or paprikás, it's very likely that you also know: there are plenty of excellent wines where that food came from!
The Folk Art Festival has just ended and the beautiful Castle Distict in Buda is already hosting another great event: for the 13th time this year the best Hungarian oenologists will present a wide range of their products in the course of ten vinuous days. Between the 05th and the 15th of September more than 100 representatives of the best wine-growing regions in Hungary and the world, will engage in professional and just-for-fun activities in order to present their merchandise.
It all begins with an exhibition at the National Gallery of Art organized with the help of several museums: those interested can get acquanited with the long past of Hungarian wine-culture; the best wines and the most appreciated gastronimical creations will be presented in a Culinary Gala. Then there will be a programme called Wine University, which consists of a series of professional lectures and wine-sampling.
On the second week-end of the festival, there will be a fair where the public will also have the oportunity to taste a great variety (over 1000 kinds) of famous wines. Producers and distributors, wine-growers and vintners will advertise, grill terraces and cheese-vendors will join them, and the cheerful atmosphere will be provided by distinguished entertainers giving recitals and concerts: music and dancing on the festival stage featuring Ghymes, Benkő Dixieland Band, Hot Jazz Band, Pege Aladár, Pódium Duó and well-known folk artists. A procession of traditional national costumes will also be organized on the streets of the castle.
In connection with the above celebrations, many other events will take place all over the Hungarian capital and it surroundings. There will be a Wine-Boat on the Danube offering interesting programmes for children and wine-tasting for adult visitors, there will be a wine auction in Hotel Gellért selling rare and expensive items for charity purposes, Carl Orff's "Carmina Burana" will be performed at the Budapest Congressional Centre by the Danubia Symphonic Orchestra, and grape harvest dances will be held in several places.
For those willing to travel a bit, at the Open-air Ethnographic Museum in Skanzen (Szentendre, near Budapest), the celebration of wine can be enjoyed in a genuine 19th century rustic setting: wine-market, traditional Hungarian dishes, original bottles, musicians and comedians, playgrounds for children, exhibitions of folk art and ancient crafts await the curious tourists.

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