Spanish singer Luz Casal will give a concert at the Belvárosi Theatre
This autumn, a true Mediterranean atmosphere will be brought to one of Budapest’s most colourful neighbourhoods: on 30 September and 1 October, Spanish music and dance, gastronomy, and special artistic and cultural experiences will take centre stage in the Palace Quarter in the 8th district. World-famous Spanish singer Luz Casal will also perform at the festival.
Budapest Brand Zrt., with the support of the Spanish Embassy in Hungary and the Cervantes Institute, in cooperation with Spanish cultural organisations, is organising a cultural mini-festival called ¡Hola Budapest!, to welcome Spain, the country holding the Presidency of the European Union, and Budapest, celebrating the 150th anniversary of its unification. The cultures of these two distant yet intertwined nations with similar temperaments will enter into dialogue in a wide variety of genres, proving that the arts can be a way of discovering what unites us and what can inspire interest and respect for each other. Music, dance, artefacts, folklore, gastronomy, all offer exciting encounters that can be experienced live by those who attend the programmes.
Gastronomy, fine arts and the meeting of two cultures
The first of October is World Music Day, so the mini-festival will be a series of concerts. There will also be arts and crafts and gastronomic activities. A series of photographs of Spanish and Hungarian street traditions will be exhibited in the FőFotó Gallery, and works by Spanish and Hungarian artists in dialogue will be on display in the EatArt Gallery. And if you are a true connoisseur, you can attend a food tasting with a cultural history presentation in the beautiful villa of the Association of Hungarian Architects, including an exciting pairing of serrano ham made from mangalica and wines from the Tokaj wine regions.
Browse through a varied programme of Spanish and Hungarian music
Luz Casal, internationally renowned singer, will give a special concert at the Belvárosi Theatre. The Spanish artist’s guest will be the national favourite Eszter Váczi & Quartet on 1 October at 20.00. Luz Casal is a true legend on the Spanish music scene. Her work includes both rockier and more classical songs. Her career began in the 80’s and since then she has sold over 5 million records. He really burst onto the international scene in 1992 with his rendition of Agustín Lara’s “Piensa en mi”, which was also used in Pedro Almodóvar’s film The Horn of Fire. The evening will open with a mini-concert by Eszter Váczi & Quartet. The link to the Facebook event and tickets: ttps://www.facebook.com/events/1648101052260033/
Lőrinc Pap tér is sure to be a hot spot on 30 September, as Spanish flamenco singer Jesús Mendez and Hungarian flamenco dancer Zsófia Pirók will perform together. Jesús Mendez was born into one of the most prominent families of flamenco singers in Jerez, the Méndez family, of which La Paquera de Jerez was the most famous member. His career began at the age of seventeen. Zsófia Pirók is a flamenco dancer who graduated in Seville. In her work, she is constantly seeking connections with other artistic disciplines, thus expanding the boundaries of the genre and bringing flamenco into the professional art scene in Spain. The programme is free of charge, and after the performance you can try out the dance steps you saw on stage, which Zsófia Pirók will help you to master. Flamenco was inscribed by UNESCO on the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity on 16 November 2010.
The Andalusian La Bejazz with Mihály Borbély and his friends invite you on an extraordinary musical journey: a meeting of jazz and folk, from Spanish flamenco jazz to Balkan folk music. La Bejazz is a permanent musical ensemble from Marche, a city in Seville known for its important flamenco tradition. The group was formed in 2008 and has released six albums. The troupe’s journey began in Andalusia and continued through the Flamenco Biennale, the International Jazz Festival, the university, theatres in Andalusia, the provincial branch, expanding the circle and nowadays they frequently perform all over Spain and abroad. Mihály Borbély and Friends is the latest formation of Mihály Borbély, who is equally at home in folk, world, jazz and contemporary music, and is a Liszt and Kossuth Prize winner. Mihály Borbély – brass instruments, Miklós Lukács – cimbalom, József Barcza Horváth – bass, Zoltán Farkas ‘Batyu’ – dance, drums, gardon. In Budapest they will perform at Mixát on 30 September. Tickets: https://tixa.hu/Labejazz_Borbely
Ana Crismán and Miklós Lukács will be performing at Premier Kultcafé on 1 October, both solo and together. Ana Crismán, born in Jerez de la Frontera, is the first and only person in the world to play the harp and to make flamenco music for the harp. Using pure flamenco music, she is a self-taught artist who creates and develops techniques that allow her to play the harp as a flamenco instrument for the first time. Miklós Lukács needs no introduction to domestic jazz fans, he is one of the most employed and versatile domestic cimbalom players in the world. His playing can be heard on more than fifty recordings. His concerts and recordings are constantly covered not only by international magazines but also by newspapers such as The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, The Guardian.
Tickets: https://www.jegy.hu/program/ana-crisman-koncert-vendeg-lukacs-miklos151325/1028440
The concert will also include a church music concert: a free concert with literary readings, ranging from the early Middle Ages to the Baroque period and up to the present day, with a selection of works by Spanish and Hungarian authors. The concert will feature prayers in several languages; Latin, Spanish and Hungarian, accompanied by organ music performed by teachers and students of the Music Academy’s Department of Sacred Music. The guest of the concert will be organist Xabier Urtasun Eraso from Spain.
The full programme:
Saturday 30 September
14:00 Tapas workshop at the Culinary Institute and contemporary dance performance at the Lőrinc pap tér
15:00 Flamenco performance by Jesús Mendez and Zsófia Pirók at Lőrinc pap tér
16:00 Zsófia Pirók dance workshop at Lőrinc pap tér
17:00 Contemporary dance performance at Lőrinc pap tér
18:00 Opening of an applied arts exhibition at the Culinary Institute
19:00 Church music concert at Lőrinc pap tér
20:30 Performance of La Bejazz and Mihály Borbély and friends at Mixát
Sunday, 1 October
11:00-16:00 Workshops in the building of the Association of Hungarian Architects
11:00 and 13:00 Lectures on the history of gastronomic culture in the courtyard of the Hungarian Builders’ Association
13:00-19:00 Applied art exhibition at the EatArt Gallery
14:00 Guitar jam in the courtyard of the Hungarian Builders’ Association
17:00 Concert of Ana Crismán and Miklós Lukács at Premier Kultcafé
20:00 Luz Casal and Eszter Váczi & Quartet at the Belvárosi Theatre
The photo exhibition at the FőFotó Gallery is open all weekend.
More details can be found in the Facebook event and on the website.