Best of Budapest & Hungary

The 24th Gyula Pálinka Festival, celebrating this special Hungarian fruit brandy, will be held between May 17-19, the organizers announced at a press conference on Monday in the Castle Garden in the southeastern Hungarian town of Gyula.

    Mayor Ernő Görgényi said that the festival is the town's biggest gastronomic event and has a significant tourist attraction. It is also accompanied by serious professional gastronomic programs, which have contributed to the development of Hungarian pálinka culture.

     He recalled that the first such festival was held in 2000 and has been canceled only once since then, due to the crown virus epidemic. "It's a great thing to be able to organize a festival after almost a quarter of a century," he said, citing the financial and credit crisis and the Russian-Ukrainian war among the difficulties.

    Tímea Varga-Bora, the main organizer of the festival, said that the festival will begin on Friday at 17:00 with the parade of the Knights of the Order of the Pálinka, which will be attended by about 130 pálinka riders.

    On Saturday, the results of the Brillante-2024 International Brandy and Spirits Competition will be announced, as well as the second edition of the Brandy Bonbon of the Year competition.

    This year there will also be a Gazda & Pálinka in the Kitchen cooking show, where experts from the world of brandy and agriculture will be preparing dishes ‘spiked’ with quince brandy. Three master classes have also been organized, with the master chef of the Árpád Pálinka from Békéscsaba and the head of the Gyula Pálinka Manufaktúra tasting house, and they are already sold out, Tímea Varga-Bora said. For those interested, guided tastings will be held at the stands of four of the distilleries, for which people can also sign up on the spot.

     In the evenings, there will be concerts, including Parno Graszt, Majka, Bye Alex and Slepp, Dzsúdló, Ferenc Demjén, Ádám Fásy and Zeneexpressz, and Irigy Hónaljmirigy.