Budapest Palinka festival

In Hungary there are lots of songs and jokes about Palinka. It is one of the important drinks in the life of a Hungarian, and it is not a coincidence that there are several festivals in the nation of Hungary dealing with Palinka. One of the most famous is the Budapest Palinka Festival.

Before you keep on reading it is important that you do not mix the Budapest Palinka Festival with the annual Palinka and Sausage festival. The latter is arranged in the autumn, normally in October, while Budapest Palinka Festival is normally arranged in May. The two festivals are also arranged at different locations helping people understand that we are speaking about two quite different festivals.

Budapest Palinka Festival attracts lots of people, especially because it is arranged at the Erzsebet square (Elisabeth square) which is in the very centre of Budapest (near Deak Ferenc square). Anyone can walk by the festival area, take a look at whats going on, taste some Palinka and have fun together with the rest of the people visiting the festival area. Every year the festival gives special attention to one special kind of Palinka. In 2013 they named the festival the year of the Sour Cherry, so that is just an example of how this works. But, do not worry, you will find all sorts of fruit spirits, even if the subject of the festival might be one special fruit.

What is Palinka?

If you are new to Budapest and Hungar you might not even know what Palinka is. To describe in a few words it can be called the Hungarian answer to Grappa in Italy and other similar fruit spirits existing around the world. Palinka in Hungary is supposed to be made of 100% fruit, but never mixing them. One bottle contain 100% of one selected fruit, for example plum, apricot, pear, sour cherry and similar fruits. The real Palinka should have an alcohol content between 40 and 60 percent, but you might be surprised to know that you do not only feel the alcohol taste… you will also be able to feel the taste of the fruits despite of the high alcohol percentage.

How to get to the Palinka festival?

This is one of the easiest places to find in Budapest. Take the metro to Deak Ferenc ter (all metros stop there) and you will be at the square within 2 minutes. You can also use tram 49 and 47 which stops just in front of the Varoshaza ter (square).