Best of Budapest & Hungary

The Gyula Pálinka Festival, which attracts tens of thousands of visitors every year and features 19 Hungarian commercial distilleries, will be held between May 26 and 28 this year in the southeastern Hungarian town of Gyula.

According to Imre Bora, the head of the company organizing the event, the festival has become a cross-border event, as a record number of distillates from across the border were entered in the Brillante-2023 International Pálinka and Spirits Competition, which this year attracted a record number of 1,178 entries. “The fact that so many people are taking part in the competition is a sign of the quality, prestige and objectivity of the competition," he said.

This year, for the first time, the Brandy Bonbon of the Year competition has been launched, with 107 samples registered, and the festival will feature a culinary ‘taste journey’ to taste 10-10 chocolates and palinkas.

This year there will also be a spectacle of distillation by well-known and respected experts from the agricultural and palinka worlds, as well as concerts in the evenings.