Friday
Ongoing:
Budapest Spring Festival at multiple venues around BudapestThe 36th Budapest Spring Festival takes place during April 8-24, awaiting audiences with a colorful program involving various arts and entertainment, such as classical music, opera, jazz, pop, dance, theater, and visual arts. Performances of the best Hungarian and international artists always make the Spring Festival a truly special occasion, presenting premieres of musical and theatrical productions, as well as co-productions with partner institutions throughout the event. This weekend’s highlights include an orchestral concert by Kristóf Baráti and the Mozarteumorchester Salzburg on April 22nd at 7:30pm at the Liszt Academy, and dance performances by the Mikhailovsky Ballet on April 24th at 7pm at Müpa Budapest.
6.30pm: Kinoflow Experimental Film Festival at Premier KultcaféDuring the KinoFlow Experimental Film Festival, taking place between April 21-23, you will have the chance to dive into the national and international waters of contemporary experimental film – all of this on the silver screen. You can put your feet into the psychedelic pool of Canadian abstract films, pick some of the pearls of the Malaysian and Vietnamese experimental films, choose from beautiful lyrical movies that were recorded on celluloid, and you can also watch one of the found-footage movies from the wildest duo of remixes.
8pm - 10.30pm: Middlemist Red, PAUW at A38 Ship Two bands – a Hungarian group and a Dutch outfit – keep blasting the ongoing vintage rock revival! Middlemist Red’s main inspiration channels from late-’60s and early-’70s rock bands like the Beatles and Pink Floyd, as well as bands from the new wave of psychedelic rock like the Black Angels and Tame Impala. Although PAUW just formed two years ago, they’ve already opened for bands like Temples or Kasabian. With a savage drummer, a bombastic bassist, a mesmerizing keyboardist, and a charismatic guitarist with dreamy vocals, they’ll take you on a magical and unforgettable trip that will remain with you for a long time.
8pm: Steven Wilson at RAM Colosseum Steven Wilson, four-time Grammy nominee, multi-instrumentalist, musician, producer, and one of the hardest-working artists in music, has announced that he will continue his European tour in 2016 promoting his exceptionally popular album, “Hand. Cannot. Erase.”, which was released in March this year. Steven Wilson will have a concert in Hungary for the first time on April 22nd onstage at RAM Colosseum.
11pm - 6am: Motown Budapest Presents Fred P at Corvin ClubFred P has been holding it down for the Big Apple’s house scene for over a decade, originally under the name Black Jazz Consortium but also as Fred P and a series of other aliases (among them Anomaly and FP197). Early press around Fred tied him in with a revival of sorts in the New York house community, but although there are clear links – both musically and personally – to the likes of Jus Ed and DJ Qu, there’s a subtle virtuosity and eccentricity to Fred’s records that makes him his own man, even at their most simple. His mixes are wonderfully curated, impeccably mixed, and are basically an intrinsically soulful listen that is nonetheless well-suited for the dance floor.Saturday
3pm: I Bike Budapest 2016 at numerous streets citywide I Bike Budapest is a celebration of cyclists – it’s for everyone who rides a bike in Budapest. The organizers want Budapest to become a biker-city. Here’s the chance to see what it's like to ride through closed-off roads and bridges, beginning with a huge gathering of bikers on the Pest riverfront in District IX at Közraktár utca (beside Bálna Budapest), before proceeding through town and ending on Margaret Island.
6pm: Get Closer Budapest Jazz Fest at MOMkult Get Closer is the latest addition to Budapest’s ever-growing festival scene, which will host renowned names of Hungarianand international jazz culture during April 22-24. It aims to bring fans of this musical genre closer to contemporary jazz styles, in every sense. In contrast to the traditional stage setting, at a Get Closer concert, the musicians stand and play on stage(s) encircled by the audience. Saturday’s bill includes the Chris Devil Trio, the Csaba Toth Bagi Balkan Union, and GFS Trio, three of the most promising local jazz acts. Don’t miss it!
6pm - 4am: Bike N Nite 08 & I Bike Budapest Afterparty at Anker’tBike ’n’ Nite is a series, held once every month, where the organizers combine volunteering, helping people in need, biking, and the cultural life and nightlife of Budapest.
The programs are free during the evening, while the party at night is donation-based. Donations are used for the community cooking and weekly food spreading (Vitamin Commando) of Budapest Bike Maffia. Arrive on two wheels or two feet and stay all night long. DJ Palotai, Vida G, Nixon and Vektor will be responsible for the music.
7pm:
Kimmo Pohjonen & Minna Tervamäki: Bright Shadow at Millenáris Park Bright Shadow, a project by accordion artist Kimmo Pohjonen and dancer-choreographer Minna Tervamäki, is an interplay between the strengths of two powerful artists. The production begun a couple of years ago, with accordion artist Pohjonen’s international fame based on his uninhibited, bold ability to cut loose from everything ordinary and familiar. During his career, he has performed at more than 500 international festivals and the world’s most renowned concert venues. Prima ballerina Tervamäki’s successful career includes leading roles in all of the best-known classical ballets, and collaborations with a number of contemporary choreographers.
11pm - 6am: Lost Minute – Daidai (Live) at LÄRM The music of Pécs will come to the Lost Larm Minute in Budapest in April, with a two-hour-long, six-handed live act. At the beginning of March, Melotherapy Records from Bucharest released the “Daidai – 4am” EP, which quickly made it to the top lists of Marco Carola, Someone Else, Egal 3 aka Vid, Paco Osuna, Aleksandar Grum, Butch, Mau, and Bublee. On Saturday, Daidai will present this EP to the local electroheads, along with his favorite electronic cuts.
Sunday
6am - 4pm:
Contra Mundum Presents Afterhours at Corvin Club
After the spring season’s biggest techno party, Contra Mundum organized a special Afterhours event!
Gabor Kraft of Deadcode Production headlines the show, bringing the Saturday night mega-event’s atmosphere over to Corvin. The selectors of Contra Mundum and Akkult are expected to play with their usual lazy elegance, as they put six of them in b2b pairings through the night. With regard to the special event, they pushed the curfew a little further, too – you’ll have until 4pm to dance yourselves to exhaustion!
9am - 3pm:
Small Garden Market at Anker’t The small garden market is a fair where you can get flowers, seedlings, seeds, and everything a garden needs; you can taste and buy all the goods nature can give. Meanwhile, the event will provide inspiration and ideas for urban and sustainable lifestyles – and the plants, gastronomic, and design products you need for them. French-styled stands, music, and numerous community programs, including programs for children, will await visitors.
10am - 1pm:
Palace Of Delights at MüPa – Palace Of ArtsThe Palace of Delights welcomes families who wish to spend time with creative and meaningful activities. The children’s concerts, dance shows, and fairy-tale theatrical acts – as well as musicals and other creative activities, including games – are always linked to a weekly theme.
1pm - 8pm: I. Asian Taco Festival at Lumen Grocery & Community Supplier On Sunday, both Districts VII and VIII offer lip-smacking feasts for any food lovers. In District VII, as the co-production of Babramegy food blog and Lumen Grocery and Community Supplier, the next awesome Asian Street Food Festival is happening! Pop in for Sunday brunch at Lumen to taste this super-yummy Asian-style street food! No matter whether you choose the Népszínház Carnival in District VIII (see below) or you check this out, it’s going to be the best thing to do on a lazy Sunday!
2pm - 8pm: Népszínház Carnival 2016 at Népszínház StreetA Carnival. A colorful, cheerful, flowing mass of people. Lots of smiling faces, dancers, musicians, and magicians all over. The feeling is both familiar and exotic. You can imagine this, can’t you? It will all be reality in Budapest during the first-ever Népszínház Carnival. Where else other than in DistrictVIII, the most vibrant and culturally diverse area of Budapest. It will be more than a simple carnival: that’s how the community wants to strengthen tolerance and social acceptance towards migrants from around the world, without whom this neighborhood is almost unimaginable today. They welcome everyone with a full-day program on the 24th of April. The neighborhood’s flavors, artists, local NGOs, and children’s programs will ensure that the enjoyment of this day is really for all of us.
