Hungary’s culture budget more than doubles

Hungary’s 2017 state budget for culture is more than twice what it was last year, according to an announcement by the country’s Secretary of State for Culture.

The huge funding boost, which sees the budget jump from last year’s 56 billion forints ($194m) to 122 billion forints ($423m), was announced yesterday on the Day of Hungarian Culture by Péter Hoppál.

Mr Hoppál expressed confidence that the extra funding would enable significant development of cultural infrastructure around the country, and serve as a force for reinvigoration in the field of culture in general.

Among the most notable beneficiaries of the budget will be large cultural festivals in the country’s capital, Budapest, which will receive 1.95 billion forints ($6.75m) in state support, while other festivals around Hungary will get 500 million forints ($1.75m), in addition to being able to apply for funding from the National Cultural Fund. Other crucial development projects will include the renovation of the Opera House, the National Széchenyi Library, the Buda Vigadó and the Museum of Industrial Design, as well as the Liget Budapest project, which will see four new museums being built in Budapest’s 200-year-old Városliget (City Park).

Source: Daily News Hungary