Photo Exhibition Kicks Off Budapest Spring Festival

A photo exhibition entitled Budapest Vision opened this Friday in Budapest's City Hall Park as part of the 42nd Budapest Spring Festival, which starts on April 29. 

The pictures of the contemporary street photo exhibition were selected by a professional jury from a competition of more than 200 images, Szilvia Mucsy, director of the Budapest Photo Festival, said at a press conference on Friday to launch the Budapest Spring Festival. The Budapest Spring Festival will be held between April 29 and May 15 at around one hundred venues in the capital, with one hundred and seventy programs.

In addition to international stars, the program also includes Hungarian stars and local progressive artists. On May 4 and 5, the Polish TR Warszava will present the drama 'Pieces of a Woman' by Kata Wéber, directed by Kornél Mundruczó, at the Vígszínház theater. The opening concert of the event will be given by the Budapest Festival Orchestra at the Budapest Congress Center, and the streets of Budapest will be filled with dance in celebration of World Dance Day.

A new venue will be the Kristály (‘Crystal’) Theater on Margaret Island, which will host a contemporary dance performance, an extraordinary May Day, an independent theater meeting organized by the European Freelance Artists' Association (ESZME), a new circus performance and a digital art exhibition entitled Cinema Mystica.

"It was not our decision that the previous forms of funding and cooperation of the Budapest Spring Festival were discontinued in the recent period," Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony emphasized at the press conference, stressing that this year's event will be realized by the capital city itself. The event tries to talk about culture in the broadest possible sense and to fill urban spaces with it, he added. Seven districts, including three new ones, have already joined this year with programs, which is a very important value of this year's event, he said.

According to the organizers, the aim of this year’s Budapest Spring Festival is to take culture out of the marble halls and into the public spaces, so that more people can enjoy cultural experiences.