News and Events in Hungary

International Budapest Book Festival

The 13th International Budapest Book Festival will open in April for the thousands of committed book friends. The past dozen years have proved that this book fair, though hardly capable of rivalling the greatest ones of its kind, is a major cultural event with its exciting and colourful offer of works, with the presence of eminent guest writers, and with its more than two hundred important cultural programs. After the earlier successful presentations of Italy, France, Germany and Russia as honorary guests, this year Spain will stand in the foreground of the interest.

The presentation of The Children's Book of the Year, Hungarian IBBY Prize on the International Budapest Book Festival

This prize is awarded yearly by the Hungarian section of IBBY (International Board on Books of Young People) to the best new children's books of the previous year, namely to those that achieved something remarkable in some field of writing, translating, drawing and publishing books for children.
The object of the prize is the recognition of outstanding promoters of Hungarian children's literature.

77th Festive Book-Week and 4th Children's Books Days

The Vörösmarty tér will be the scene, between 1 and 5 June, of presenting new books, of recitals and the ceremonies of writers inscribing their books to the readers present. It is a long tradition that only recently published books of living Hungarian authors may qualify as "Book-Week Work".

Folk Tales Day, 30 September

As a result of the appeal by Hungarian Reading Association the day 30 September, the birthday of the author Elek Benedek, was declared Folk Tales Day in 2005. The appeal requests librarians, nursery school teachers, educators and folk tale researchers and all the readers, whether children or grownups, to pay in this day a special attention to the tales of Hungarian and other peoples; to revive the ancient traditions of tale-telling, to listen to each others' favourite tales, to remember our illustrious tale collectors and tale-tellers and the message, valid even today, of the ancient wisdom inherent in the tales. It requests leaders of institutions to make it possible that this day each child have one folk tale in the satchel as a source of edification, comfort or pleasure, because a tale we get in the right moment may influence our life.

World Congress of Reading

The directory board of International Reading Association decided that a World Congress of Reading would take place in Budapest, 8-10 August 2006. The host is the Hungarian Reading Association. Details await you in website www.hunra.hu.

Winter Festival and Fair of Children's Literature

Visitors get a panorama of available Hungarian books for young people on the 3rd Winter Festival and Fair of Children's Literature in the first days of December. The three days of the festival is organized by Magic Pencil, the Association of Authors and Illustrators of Children's Books.