Europe's Cultural Capital of 2010: Pécs, Hungary!

If want to travel to many countries at once, Pecs is the place!

Goulash, hot sausages, Budapest and the Sziget festival: is this what comes to your mind when thinking of Hungary? It’s time to update your idea of this beautiful country, which will offer you a wide range of cultural events all year long.

The cultural center is the city of Pécs, that has been named, together with Istanbul and Essen, the European Cultural capital for 2010. Pécs is located in the Southwest part of Hungary, 200 km away from Budapest, and not far from Croatia and Serbia.

“The city without borders”, as Pecs is called, boasts of more than 2000 years of history, traditions and culture, and wishes to display its great multi-cultural heritage in 2010. Pécs was ruled, over many centuries by the Romans, the Turks and the Austrian empire; all the different invasions left their footprints on the city’s appearance: Roman catacombs, Turkish style buildings such as the famous mosque and the 23-meter tall minaret or the medieval Christian cathedral are just some of the city’s must-see places.

Throughout its whole history, Pécs has always been inclined to mix different cultures and people: Slavics, Serbians, Suebi, Croatians, Romani and Hungarians have all lived together in the city. Pécs 2010 will be the occasion to display how all the various traditions can live together and enrich each other. There will be months dedicated to Greek culture, Turkish culture and a special international Roman culture festival.

Art will cover every plaza in Pécs, not to mention the theater, ballet, circus, music, movies, street art, literature, contemporary art and many more festivals will take place in the city over 2010.

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Just to have a taste of these colorful events:

3 March – 12 April: Greek Festival

26 April – 1 May: Pécs Dance Marathon

9–29 May: Travel Around the Turkish Crescent

20–22 May: 21st International Folk Days Music Festival

20–22 May: Batta Dem 5th International Reggae Festival

June – August: Exhibitions of Contemporary Croatian Visual Art

3–12 June: Pécs National Theatre Festival

3–5 June: 7th International Romany Festival

12 June – 10 August: Pécs Open-Air Theatre Festival

9–25 July: Circus and Street Theatre Festival

13–18 July: EFOTT Music Festival- National Meeting of University Students

18–25 July: 13th European Youth Culture Week

23–28 August: 15th International Adult Puppet Theatre Festival

29 August – 5 Sept: Pan-Balkan Art Picnic

8 Sept – 15 October: 2010 Young Contemporary European Artists’ Biennial

14–26 September: 1st Cultural World Festival of Hungarians

20–26 September: 4th International Dance Festival

4–10 October: 2nd CinePécs International Film Festival

3–17 November: Mezzo Television Opera Competition and Festival

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In the meantime check out the official Pécs program guide or the summertime events calendar for the summary of monthly festivals.

Don’t miss the great events at Pécs 2010 and book your accommodation in Pécs today!