Budapest Summer Festival 2019: Experience Hungary's longest and most multicultral festival!

From 1st of June until 7th of September, for our 2019 season our summer venues await you with their unique atmosphere, as well as rich and exceptional programs. In the course of this year’s season, our two summer venues will showcase nearly 120 performances, programs, concerts (whether opera, musical, ballet, symphonic or pop music), prose theatre for children and adults, as well as literary strolls and interactive events. The location of the festival is the gorgeous Margaret Island that is referred as "Budapest's green heart". We can proudly state that this series of outstanding and exceptional programs is the country’s largest and longest-running cultural festival, which also occupies a distinguished position in the region.

Highlighted events (from July on):

Nicola Benedetti and the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra

4 July (Thursday) 2019 at 8 p.m.

One of the most sought-after violin soloists of her generation for the first time in Hungary! Born in Scotland with Italian descent, Nicola Benedetti is one of our time’s most influential classical music artists, often appearing at the world’s leading concert halls and festivals such as Cadogan Hall in London, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Symphony Hall in Birmingham, or the Edinburgh Festival. Great orchestras and conductors around the world seek out this soloist, who recently gave concerts with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. She arrives in Budapest with one of the world’s best youth orchestras, the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra (SFSYO). In concerts, Nicola Benedetti plays a Gabriel Stradivarius instrument from 1717, which she received from philanthropist Jonathan Moulds. On Margaret Island, we will hear songs from one of music literature’s most popular and difficult violin concertos, P. I. Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in D-major.

Imre Kálmán: Die Csárdásfürstin (”Queen of the Csárdás”)

operetta in two parts

12th and 13th of July, 9th and 10th of August Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m.

After the great success of Imre Kálmán’s operetta “Circus Princess” last season, Open-Air Theatre presents the composer’s venerable classic “Queen of the Csárdás” in a brand-new direction by Attila Vidnyánszky. The most popular grand operetta of all time, it enjoyed a rave reception in 1915, then a triumphant string of productions in the twentieth century. Since then, it has lost none of its vitality or its appeal. Now this champion of the genre returns, so we can hum along to its now world-famous melodies, immerse ourselves in its glorious operetta milieu, and (as the song lyrics would have it) escape from the “Shabby World”.

Featuring the orchestra and choir of the Budapest Operetta Theatre, as well as its ballet corps.

Barbarian Nights

or the first dawning lights of the world contemporary dance tableau

18 July (Thursday) 2019 at 9 p.m.

Hervé Koubi, a French choreographer of Algerian descent, drew from his roots in Mediterranean culture when creating his second performance work, Barbarian Nights. In this production, the dozen Algerian and West African men brilliantly blend contemporary style with urban and street dance, as well as capoeira and a variety of martial arts disciplines. With his balletic choreography, Koubi enchantingly evokes our several-million-year history. Join us on our unforgettable journey accompanied by Wagner, Mozart, Fauré, and traditional Algerian music.

Opera Gala — Vittorio Grigolo Gala Concert

20 July (Saturday) 2019 at 8 p.m.

The Budapest Summer Festival continues with Vittorio Grigolo, an outstanding talent and virtuoso on the international opera scene. The world-renowned opera soloist will perform one of his most popular programs of classical music, featuring the best-known and most-beloved arias from opera literature. This evocative and charming star tenor will dazzle the audience with his rich and varied repertoire, including pieces by, Donizetti, Verdi, Puccini, Gounod, Massenet and Offenbach. He has played at the world’s most illustrious opera houses, and now the audience at Margaret Island Open-Air Stage can hear him in the summer of 2019!

Pink Martini – The Concert

24 July (Wednesday) 2019 at 9 p.m.

This marks the first appearance of Pink Martini, the versatile orchestra that has mastered practically every musical style, on the Margaret Island Open-Air Stage!

Playing a genuine “summer music” program, this orchestra has a unique sound which is a fusion of jazz, classical, and pop-rock. Its pianist and founder, Thomas Lauderdale, started in Oregon politics and assembled a large chamber orchestra with the goal of changing the world. He attended Harvard together with his partner, the charismatic singer China Forbes. Along with singer Storm Large, their music pushes boundaries, while working with altogether 10-12 musicians and guest singers. Their first single Sympatique quickly won the “Song of the Year” prize. Pink Martini’s wide repertoire is wildly diverse, as they are fond of making leaps in musical periods and styles. The orchestra began its world tour in 1997, debuting at the Cannes Film Festival. Since then, their songs have been heard in numerous films and television shows, as well as at festivals and large concert venues around the world.

Stars of Hollywood — Symphonic filmmusic concert

27 July (Saturday) 2019 at 8 p.m.

During the Stars of Hollywood symphonic film music concert, the greatest movie celebrities of our time each receive a set, so we may witness the secrets of their true star quality – without dialogue, simply through the power of music and persona. These true titans of film – Tom Hanks, Brad Pitt, Johnny Depp, and Russel Crowe – are action heroes, detectives, or fantastic figures in one movie, only to play everyday people or vulnerable men in the next. In its diverse selection, the Stars of Hollywood concert pays homage to the stars’ ingenious performances, while playing movie music that has won awards and delighted audiences worldwide from films such as Forest Gump, Gladiator, Indiana Jones, or Pirates of the Caribbean.

Orchestra: Budapest Symphony Orchestra. Producer: Teodóra Bán.

Pietro Mascagni: Cavalleria Rusticana

Ruggero Leoncavallo: Pagliacci

two one-act operas in Italian with Hungarian s

1 August (Thursday) and 4 August (Sunday) 2019 at 8 p.m.

Two one-act operas arrive at Margaret Island Open-Air Stage starring the Argentine tenor who is one of the most distinguished performers of our time! In the summer of 2019, after New York’s Metropolitan Opera and the Opera de Monte Carlo, Marcelo Álvarez will dazzle spectators on Margaret Island in the roles of Turiddu and Canio. What connects these two pieces is the naturalistic style of depiction, where the conflicts of flesh-and-blood characters are portrayed as everyday stories. Today we could even call them opera thrillers. Now the Budapest audience may view them at Margaret Island Open-Air Stage directed by Georges Delnon and featuring the Hungarian State Opera House’s orchestra and chorus.

Sukhishvili – National Georgian Ballet

evening of dance

16 August (Friday) and 17 August (Saturday) 2019 at 8 p.m.

The "Sukhishvili" program is a blend of traditional Georgian dance with diverse classical influences, displaying for the first time on the Margaret Island Open-Air Stage the history and heroism of the Georgian people. Since its formation, this innovative dance company has strayed far from the conventions of modern ballet by modernising folklore themes and filling them with classical dance elements, thus creating exciting and spectacular productions. The company has had successful appearances on nearly all of the world’s stages, including the Sydney Opera House, London’s Royal Albert Hall and Manhattan’s Metropolitan Opera. This program, hosted on the island stage in August, will feature breathtaking costumes and gorgeous choreography.