Skating rink and festive shows – Müpa offers magical winter surprises

The finishing touches are just being added to one of the most beautiful ice rinks in Budapest. Outside the Müpa arts centre, two seasonal shows are being staged in the Müpa Tent, with free live music playing while you skate. Acclaimed troupe Recirquel have revived their winter tale, Kristály, while Hungarian children will enjoy a dramatisation of a work by award-winning writer Anna T Szabó.

Every winter, a circus marquee, the Müpa Tent, sets up by the car park of this arts complex in south Pest. Between 30 November and 9 January, two special festive performances now await audiences.

Recirquel, an award-winning fusion of dance and contemporary circus, present their show, Kristály (‘Crystal’). Conceived by company founder Bence Vági in 2018 and since reworked, the performance guides the viewer to the frozen landscapes of Snowland.


The other piece is a family-friendly tale in Hungarian by acclaimed poet Anna T Szabó, Égigérő, a cheerful, witty, musical response to the everyday anxieties in our lives, with characters such as Eszter Balla, Bea Palya and Márk Ember.

A skating rink will again by set up by the Müpa Tent this year, providing a wonderful panorama of the Danube embankment, with free live music to boot. Performers such as the Bluebay Foxes and DagaDub will perform alongside the covered rink, along with Freakin’ Disco, the Qualitons and others, plus jazz legend István Elek and his quartet, plus the Sounds of Handpan and Ruby Harlem. Further details in English will soon be available on the Müpa website.