Enjoy the great wines on offer at the Budapest Wine Festival, one of the long-awaited events in Budapest in the autumn season. It is more than the Hungarian National Wine Festival as it often reaches out to other nations, featuring a guest country’s wine culture.

The Wine Festival takes place every year in September (but some of the past festivals took place in October), and features a fascinating Harvest Procession in the Buda Castle, besides the many concerts and performances to enjoy your wines better. The Wine & Sparkling Wine Festival venue is the grounds and courtyards of the scenic hilltop Buda Castle in Budapest, and is on the list of any wine lovers who like to taste Hungarian products (please see this Budapest Market Hall Tasting Tour with Wine Tasting too)

Wine Festival in 2024

September 12 – 15, 2024

Payment at the Festival: Festipay festival card (available on the spot against cash or bank card), or Mastercard PayPass/VISA PayWave contactless bank cards

Wine Festival Days – Opening Hours

Opening Hours of the Budapest Buda Castle Wine Festival days in 2024

TBC

Wine Festival Tickets

2024 daily tickets are available from HUF 8,200

Prices in 2024:

On the spot:

Thursday HUF 8,200
Friday HUF 8,900
Saturday HUF 8,900
Sunday HUF 6,500

4 days Pass HUF 15,000
Inclusions:

• • • full day entry to the festival (wrist band entitling to multiple entries, come and go as you wish)
    • 1 Crystal Wine Tasting Glass
    • 1 free tasting at VinAgora Stand
    • no Budapest Cards are accepted during the festival, sorry

   

• 2024 Wine Festival – Good to know History Museum entry during the Festival

  Purchasing a day ticket, or a four-day pass to the Wine Festival ensures free entry to the History Museum as well. If you would only like to visit the museum but not the festival, please do so by arriving from the direction of Várkert Bazár, avoiding the festival area.

  Purchasing a day ticket, or a four-day pass to the Wine Festival ensures free entry to the History Museum as well. The rules of the museum are also compulsory for the guests of the festival, so only empty wine glasses stored in the glass holder are allowed to enter the building. If you are only visiting the museum but not the festival, you can buy a ticket at the Baroque Gate or at the Visitors’ Point stand on Palotai Road, which will take you to the museum entrance via the festival site. Kindly note that the ticket entitles you to pass through the festival, not to stay around. After visiting the attraction – without a valid festival wristband – guests will be escorted out of the festival area.

  National Gallery entry during the Festival

  From 12 to 15 September 2024, the 33st Budapest Wine Festival will take place in some areas of Buda Castle (Fishing Children’s Terrace, Savoy Terrace, Hunyadi Courtyard, Lion’s Court, Csikós Courtyard). Those areas are only accessible with a valid wristband of the Wine Festival. Visitors to the Hungarian National Gallery can only enter and leave the building accompanied by a hostess. Visitors will be escorted in groups every quarter of an hour from the Hungarian National Gallery Visitors’ Point at the Baroque Gate to the main entrance of the Gallery, and then from the Gallery to the festival exit. Visitors in wheelchairs can approach the building from the Tabán lifts. More detailed information will be provided at the venue. Kindly note that the ticket entitles you to pass through the festival, not to stay around. After visiting the attraction – without a valid festival wristband – guests will be escorted out of the festival area.

  St Stephens Hall entry during the Festival

  Please arrive either at the entrance of the festival at the Baroque gate or at the Visitors’ Point of the Budapest History Museum at the entrance to the Palota Road, no earlier than half an hour before the time indicated on the ticket for the Szent István hall. You can approach the Szent István hall through the festival area with the ticket you receive here. Kindly note that the ticket entitles you to pass through the festival, not to stay around. After visiting the attraction – without a valid festival wristband – guests will be escorted out of the festival area.

  Guided Buda Castle District Tours during the Festival

  If you have booked a guided tour in the Buda Castle district, outside the buildings, the tour route will omit the courtyards occupied by the Wine Festival and will instead go on other routes and historical squares (e.g. by the presidential palace, Alexandar Palace, the upper station of the Funicular, Disz Square, the Fisherman’s Bastion, Matthias Church etc.) as these attractions are outside the perimeter of the festival area.

  Ten Tips for the Budapest Wine Festival

  • • • 1.  Get a pair of comfortable shoes (possibly flat soled), as the grounds of the castle are covered in cobble stones
        2. Enjoy the Wifi at the Budapest Wine Festival: all areas are covered in festival wifi
        3. The festival can get crowded by midday at weekends: if you want to enjoy the festival in a more airy style, pick the weekdays, and the hours right after the opening hours
        4. Bring enough cash to the festival. The local currency exchange rate at the festival may not be so optimal as in some city central currency exchange places
        5. Don’t forget to keep hydrated: get enough water to keep you balanced
        6. The castle bus will take you very close to the festival location: Bus number 16 from Deak Sq and Clark Adam Sq, or the Varbusz castle bus from Szell Kalman Sq are both cheap and efficient options. Parking by car in the Castle District is a hassle.
        7. Do join the fun Harvest Procession: people from all over Hungary take pride in representing the various wine regions in Hungary, plus locals in beautiful folk costumes represent the century old local cultures. There will be lots of singing and dancing as part of the procession. The traditional castle route of the Harvest Procession is: Szentháromság tér – Tóth Árpád sétány – Dísz tér – Koldus kapu – festival main stage.
        8. Visit the fully responsive website of the Festival for all information you might need.
        9. Enjoy yourself!