Szeged Wine Festival and Day of Szeged Celebration Series 2024 — Detailed Guide
Local and international wine enthusiasts and festival-goers are getting ready, as the iconic 10-day (11 days long this year!) Szeged Wine Festival kicks off soon. During the city’s spring wine fest, downtown squares and streets of Szeged turn into a bustling cavalcade of wine producers, street food vendors, handicraft artists, musicians, and gastro fest lovers. The 28th Szeged Wine Festival and the Day of Szeged Celebration Series will be held between May 16-26, 2024.
Szeged Wine Festival and Day of Szeged Celebration — short intro
The Szeged Wine Festival is one of the biggest wine-related events in Hungary, taking place each year in the middle of May in the picturesque city center of Szeged. Around 160 winemakers arrive from all corners of the country to showcase the best of their produce. This is an excellent opportunity to get an insight into Hungarian wine culture and taste almost everything that the country’s vineyards have to offer since the selection at the festival covers all 22 wine regions of the country.
The Szeged Wine Festival and all the accompanying programs during the 10-day event — like the extremely popular Bridge Fair — are part of the Day of Szeged event series, celebrating the day when Szeged received its coat of arms back in 1719. For 10 days, the city center transforms into a bustling cavalcade of visitors and winemakers chatting over wine and enjoying the various performances and concerts. Stalls offering brandies (pálinka), craft beer, and several types of street food will also dot the squares and streets of the city center. Artisans will be selling handmade products ranging from unique ceramics to leather goods, from textiles to jewelry to hand-poured soy candles, and much much more.
Note: All concerts and performances can be attended free of charge
Check out Szegedify’s photo gallery from previous Szeged Wine Festivals:
Reusable wine glasses at the Szeged Wine Festival
In an effort to make the city’s festivals greener, the organizer Szeged Fair and Market Operator Ltd. decided in 2022 to replace the single-use plastic wine cups with reusable wine glasses, which will be the case this year too. Visitors can either buy a glass to take home or one that can be returned at the end.
Wine glasses can be bought at information stalls No. 1 and 190 or at any winemaker, using cashless payment methods (credit cards, Festipay card) only.
Glasses with the Szeged Wine Festival’s logo cost HUF 1,800 and cannot be returned, but can serve as a souvenir. Glasses decorated with the coat of arms of Szeged cost HUF 1,500 and can be returned at stalls No. 1 and 191 for a refund of HUF 1,200.
Venues of the 2024 Szeged Wine Festival and Day of Szeged Celebration Series
Széchenyi Square, the main venue of the 2024 Szeged Wine Festival
As in previous years, Széchenyi Square will host most of the wine producers’ stalls. In addition to the Hungarian repertoire covering all wine regions of the country, some stalls will offer international wines. The equally famous Hungarian brandy (pálinka) will also be present, thanks to some of the best pálinka producers in the country.
The Széchenyi Square location will host a good number of food stalls too, offering fish, chips, grilled food, pizza, handmade cheese, flatbreads, strudel (rétes), and chimney cake among others. No. 83 and 112 will be dedicated coffee stalls.
A wide variety of music performances — jazz, blues, pop, rock, folk, and everything in between — with some of Hungary’s favorite performers will set the ambiance on two stages located at different parts of the square.
Klauzál Square and Kárász Street
Apart from the main location in Széchenyi Square, other areas of downtown Szeged will also be bustling with accompanying programs.
Klauzál Square and the part of Kárász Street between Klauzál and Széchenyi Squares will host a Craft and Gastro Square, where among others craft beer, flatbread, chimney cake, and bubble tea stands await visitors.
At the same time, this area will be home to several local artisans selling their handcrafted goods, such as handmade jewelry, leather accessories, handmade glass products, wooden toys, handmade soap and cosmetics, and more.
Dugonics Square
Dugonics Square will transform into the so-called Treasure Square (Kincs tér) with a variety of vendors selling a wide range of products and craft items. Some stalls will be here throughout the festival, others for only the first or the second part of the event.
Various music and dance performances will take place here, including the traditional gathering and joint performance of choirs (KóSza) on Saturday, May 18, as well as ballet, modern dance, and fitness shows throughout the entire festival. The Greek (May 18), Serbian (May 19), Bulgarian (May 20), and German (May 24) folk dance programs will be open for anyone who wants to learn the traditional dances of some of Szeged’s ethnic groups.
This location will also have food and drink stalls, offering chimney cake, street food, sweets, bubble tea, brandy, and beer among others.
Opening Ceremony
Similarly to previous years, the Szeged Wine Festival will open with a parade on the first day of the event, May 16. The opening parade, led by the flag throwers of the Pavane Dance Group and accompanied by the members of various Hungarian wine associations, starts at 17:30 from Dugonics Square. The parade arrives at Széchenyi Square, where the Szeged Wine Festival will officially be opened at 18:00 at the ÁRKÁD Szeged Stage. The first concert starts at 18:30.
More Szegedify photos from previous years. Use the arrows to scroll through the gallery.
Day of Szeged Celebration Series accompanying programs and locations
Choirs in Downtown Szeged
As in previous years, choirs will fill downtown Szeged with the power of the human voice. On the afternoon of May 18, nearly 30 short concerts will take place at the outdoor flashmobs and at three indoor locations: the SZTE Faculty of Arts (SZTE BBMK) building at Tisza Lajos krt. 79-81, the REÖK Palace at Magyar Ede Square, and the SZTE Rector’s Office at Dugonics Square.
The choirs start at 13:30 with a street flashmob in front of REÖK and end their program with another flashmob starting at 18:30 at Dugonics Square.
Find more info about the event on the KóSza Facebook page.
Charity Wine Auction
During the festival, there will be a charity wine auction every day at Széchenyi Square, and on the second weekend at Dóm Square too - the exact dates of the auctions are included in the wine festival's program booklet. With the amount raised, the organizers will support the work of the Szeged Newborn Lifesaving Service Foundation.
The amount will help provide the organization's two ambulances with the necessary equipment: ventilators, breathing aids, and incubators used for premature babies.
Note that the language of the charity auction is Hungarian.
Dóm Square (May 24-26)
On the second weekend of the Day of Szeged celebration series — May 24-26 — spectacular concerts await visitors at the Dóm Square Cavalcade, with fireworks on Saturday, May 25, at 21:30. Just like at the other locations, the concerts at Dóm Square can be visited free of charge. On all three days, the program features a charity wine auction too. Note that the language of the auction is Hungarian.
Szeged Bridge Fair on Belvárosi Bridge, Híd Street and Oskola Street
On May 25-26, 2024, one of the biggest handicraft markets in the country, the 23rd Szeged Bridge Fair will be held on Belvárosi Bridge (Belvárosi híd) and Híd Street, with around 300 vendors. At the same time, visitors can get to know local NGOs and their work on Oskola Street.
The Szeged Bridge Fair will be opened traditionally by stilt walkers, who start from Széchenyi Square, cross the Belvárosi Bridge to the Újszeged side, and return to the Szeged side of the bridge.
The stilt walker performance starts from Széchenyi Square at 9:30 on Saturday, May 25. Throughout the Bridge Fair, performances, street musicians, and other attractions will entertain visitors on both sides of the bridge.
Szeged Bridge Fair in 2022. Szegedify / Szilvia Molnar
Changes in traffic and public transport during the 2024 Szeged Wine Festival and Day of Szeged Celebration Series
Parking and traffic restrictions
Széchenyi Square will remain partly closed to parking and car traffic until the end of the festival.
Belvárosi Bridge will be fully closed to traffic during the Szeged Bridge Fair, May 25-26.
In general, if you are coming to Szeged by car during the Szeged Wine Festival, try to avoid the following parts of the downtown area:
Széchenyi Square
Belvárosi Bridge
Híd Street
Oskola Street
Dóm Square
Somogyi Street
PUBLIC TRANSPORT DISCOUNT TICKET
During the Szeged Wine Festival (May 16-26), any single ticket validated on board after 18:00 entitles unlimited travel in Szeged on any type of public transport until the last vehicle in the timetable.
Single tickets bought in advance (one-by-one or in a 10-pack), tickets bought on board (from the driver or the ticket machine), and single tickets purchased via the mobile app are all eligible. Please note that tickets purchased at the onboard machine don’t need validation, these are issued already validated.
NOSTALGIA TRAM AND TROLLEYBUS
During the 2024 Szeged Wine Festival and Day of Szeged Celebration Series, the transport company in Szeged launches nostalgia tram services.
Nostalgia trams No. 813 and 313-314 will transport passengers between Európa liget and Szeged Vasútállomás on May 17-18-19 and May 24-25-26.
For a map with the stations of the nostalgia trams, click here.
What is the Day of Szeged celebration about
Day of Szeged is celebrated each year on May 21.
The area of Szeged has been inhabited since the Neolithic. The city was first mentioned in 1183 and became a royal free city in 1498.
After the Turkish invasion, Szeged got its royal free city status back in 1715. It received a coat of arms on May 21, 1719, and this day is still celebrated today as the Day of Szeged.
Traditionally, the most prestigious awards of the city are presented on the Day of Szeged, during a festive assembly in front of the city hall.
Every year, the Honorary Citizen title, the Pro Urbe Awards, and the Szeged Memorial Medals are handed out on this occasion.
Coat of arms given to Szeged on May 21, 1719. Source: Wikibooks.org
Disclaimer
The organizer Szeged Fair and Market Operator Ltd. reserves the right to make changes to the programs announced.
At Szegedify Magazine we try to provide the most accurate information possible and we double-check everything. However, we are not liable for inaccurate information (if any) provided by our sources.
Featured image only for illustration. Credit: Kelsey Knight
Gallery images: Szegedify / Szilvia Molnar
