Budapest marks solstice with annual museum night

Museums across Budapest and throughout Hungary are inviting members of the public to stay up late this Saturday for a night of cultural celebration on the wake of the summer solstice, the longest day of the year.

Nearly 140 Hungarian museums and other cultural institutions will participate in the fifth-annual "Long Night of Museums." The event was started in Berlin on the summer solstice in 1997 as an attempt to raise public engagement with the arts.

In Hungary, the doors of participating museums will remain open until 2 a.m. and most museums will organize special activities and events for the night. This year, the Museum of Fine Arts on Budapest's Heroes' Square will host a workshop in basket weaving, and a Latin dance class followed by a dance party with live Cuban music.

Other Budapest highlights include wandering through the "Labyrinth of Love" beneath Buda Castle, gaping at the treasures of the Esterházy family at the Museum of Applied Arts, or entering the Hungarian National Bank building legally after dark to explore exhibitions in the bank's Visitor Center.

The event, which is organized by Hungary's Ministry of Education and Culture, Ministry of Local Governments and Regional Development and the National Cultural Fund, drew more than 200,000 people to participating museums all over Hungary last year.

In Budapest, special bus services will help cultural revelers get from one museum to the next, including museums in the suburb of Óbuda. Buses will depart every 10 minutes between 6 p.m. and 2 a.m. at these locations: service to Pest museums will leave from the sightseeing bus stop at Deák tér; buses to Buda museums and the Ludwig Museum leave from behind the Bus 9 stop at Deák tér; and the Óbuda bus leaves from the Bus 86 stop at Batthyány tér.

Tickets for the event, available at participating museums and several BKV ticket offices, cost Ft 1,200 for adults and Ft 600 for children. Ticket holders can ride the buses for free all night.

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