The times when Christmas fairs sold only useless trinkets at horror prices and offered a questionable food selection seems to be over. We participated in a press tour of the fair in front of St. Stephen's Basilica to sample the Christmas drinks and street food on offer. This year, organisers have paid special attention to choosing great food and drinks providers for visitors to enjoy.
Of course, the wooden booths in St. Stephen Square are not the only option for satisfying your hunger. There are familiar street food spots lining Zrínyi Street as well. All in all, there is life beyond sausages and Chimney Cakes at this Christmas fair. For example Kolbice - a great sausage spot, Pasta Station - the popular pasta place at festivals, Casa Piadina - for Italian pies, and the ZING burger truck.
LazacPlacc (translates to "Salmon Place") is among our favourites. Here, eat fish soup, salmon sandwiches, and smoked salmon steak in redcurrant or remoulade, while enjoying a great view of the busy fair.The festival boasts plenty of dessert and coffee stops as well, in case you need a burst of energy while looking at all the stands.
In addition to the typical Christmas puddings, you can find the Cake Shop here in a separate booth, or you can sip coffee sitting in a huge Omnia coffee cup prepared by the Hello Wood project. Here cakes will be specifically created by ízHUSZÁR to go with the coffees.After all the dining and snacking, you shouldn't be afraid of hot drinks going straight to your head. The range of hot drinks starts, naturally, with mulled wine (the most popular being DiVino's spicy variation) and extends to a wide variation of alcoholic and non-alcoholic alternatives. Try an eggnog based sweet alcoholic drink, the hot "Cherry Punch" with a Czech sour shot, or the winter variation of your favourite summer rosé fröccs at Christmas Bistro. We highly recommend the mango punch drink by one of the local bistros, MINI Bar.If you want to explore every attraction, expect to spend a few hours here. From dusk to 8pm, short films are screened onto the front face of St. Stephen's Basilica every 30 minutes. There are altogether four of these Christmas video shows created specifically for this building, with an impressive soundtrack. It is a pleasure to see this neo-Rennaissance building - one of the 10 most photographed buildings in the world - clad in new lights.
There are major changes inside the Basilica as well. From now on the interior will be illuminated by energy-saving lights. The traditional bulbs and halogen lights are now replaced by nearly 1000 LEDs, without changing the captivating ambiance of the Basilica. We also recommend everyone visit the panorama lookout atop the magnificent building in the winter too, to take a bird's eye view of Budapest in its Advent glamour. The lookout is open until 4.30pm every day.
