Hundreds of Winemakers Await Visitors at the Szeged Wine Festival

Hundreds of exhibitors, including 160 winemakers, are welcoming guests at the Szeged Wine Festival (southern Hungary), starting on Thursday. Hungary’s largest wine festival will last eleven days this year, announced the organizer of the event.

Attila Rácz, the managing director of Szegedi Városkép és Piac Kft., said that visitors can meet representatives of almost all Hungarian wine regions at Széchenyi Square, and winemakers from across the border will also be present. Almost thirty caterers will join the wine producers, offering unique cheeses and gastronomic specialties, and visitors can also taste Hungarian brandies.

In order to reduce the ecological footprint of the wine festival, from 2022 onward, wines are offered exclusively in glass. The larger glass with the festival’s logo can become an ornament to the guests’ home glass collection after the event. The smaller glass with the Szeged coat of arms can be returned at the end of the day.

In keeping with tradition, a wine competition will also be organized in parallel with the festival. The judges, chaired by Tamás Günzer, a winemaker from Villány and winner of the 2023 Winemaker of the Year award, will evaluate 140-150 excellent wines in a blind tasting, using a 100-point system. The results will be announced on May 21.

In addition to wines, pálinka (Hungarian traditional fruit brandy) and cheeses, gastronomic specialties will also be on offer. The Wine Festival, starting on Thursday afternoon with a spectacular parade by the Pavane Dance Ensemble and the wine-growing communities, coincides with the opening of the Craft and Gastronomic Courtyard on Klauzál Square, Kincs Square and Dugonics Square.

In addition to wine and pálinka, these downtown venues will also offer craft beers and gastronomic specialties, and almost a hundred craft exhibitors and small producers will be selling their wares.

At the fountain on Dugonics Square, the Kincs Square will be transformed into a casual promenade, where various programs, a play house and concerts will be held every day, and those who feel like it can also join in the live music German, Serbian and Greek dance houses.

On all days of the festival, a charity wine auction will be held, where you can bid for bottles and wine selections donated by winemakers. The proceeds will be donated to the Szeged Newborn Life Saving Foundation.

Via MTI, Featured image: Facebook/Szegedi Borfesztivál-Szeged Napja Ünnepségsorozat