One of Europe's biggest cultural - and mainly music - festival, the Sziget Festival on Óbuda island (hence the name) on the River Danube opened its gates this Monday. We have for you a preview by a Dutch journalist, Maria Douwes.

Start spreading the news: one of the most comprehensive exhibitions of Rembrandt and Dutch Golden Age Paintings will be held at the Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest from the end of October until the middle of February 2015.

The National Bank of Hungary (MNB) has purchased a castle hotel in eastern Hungary and it will operate the facility as its own resort in the future, the financial website portfolio.hu reports on the basis of news from HVG released on Thursday.

“Races are coming your way, so forget all your duties, oh yeah…” Do these lines ring a bell? Did you know that it is mandatory to have a bell on your bike, at least in Hungary? Diplomacy & Trade featured this article in its recent Dutch country focus.

Last year, the number of visitors at the 200 most significant Hungarian baths, also frequented by tourists, was some 31 million and development projects related to these are to be continued in the coming European Union fiscal period.

The recent Dutch country focus of Diplomacy & Trade featured an interview with the head of the Political and Economic Department who says the Embassy is prepared to act as an interlocutor between the Dutch business community and the Hungarian authorities.

The Hungarian Prime Minister has nominated Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Tibor Navracsics to serve as Commissioner in the next European Commission (EC). Before the official announcement, Navracsics revealed his nomination on Twitter.

“There is an extensive presence of Dutch companies in this country and they require the attention of our Embassy,” the Dutch Ambassador in Budapest, Gajus Scheltema explains in a comprehensive interview in a recent issue of Diplomacy & Trade.

The European Commission announced the first results of its new EUR 3 billion SME Instrument program, launched under Horizon 2020 to help innovative small firms get ideas from the lab to the market. The first winners include three Hungarian firms.

Daniel Ricciardo of the Red Bull team won the 29th Hungarian Grand Prix car race at the Hungaroring circuit just east of Budapest on Sunday ahead of Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso and 2013 winner Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton.

Hungarian contemporary author László Krasznahorkai, the author of 16 books, is the 2014 recipient of the America Awards - considered by many as the ‘Alternative Nobel Prize for Literature’ - for a lifetime contribution to international writing.

The Croatian government is urging talks on a secured loan to buy back shares of oil and gas company INA from Hungarian counterpart MOL, Croatian Economy Minister Ivan Vrdoljak was reported by portfolio.hu as saying.

A monument that the Hungarian government says is that of the victims of the Nazi occupation in Hungary was completed under the cover of darkness in downtown Budapest in order to avoid protests. The government says there will be no inauguration.

15-year-old Bence Balzam from the northern Serbian settlement of Op¹tina Beèej (or Óbecse, with substantial Hungarian population) won this year's cross-Balaton swimming between Révfülöp and Balatonboglár this past Saturday.

Microsoft Corp announced on Thursday that it plans a "phased exit" from the town of Komárom, W of Budapest, where Nokia employs 1,800 people. The Hungarian arm of German carmaker Audi said they might be able to help those that will be laid off.