The Book-Wine-Jazz Festival returns to Balatonfüred on June 12–13, 2026, turning the Reform Era district around Blaha Street into a buzzing cultural quarter where literature, live jazz, and Balaton’s best bottles meet. Over two days, expect book launches, signings, children’s programs, tastings, expert talks, and open-air concerts—an easygoing mix designed to bring Hungarian writing to wider audiences without stiff formality.
Where and when
Dates: Friday–Saturday, June 12–13, 2026. Location: 8230 Balatonfüred, Blaha Street (Blaha utca), with additional venues including Vaszary Villa, the Kisfaludy Gallery, and the arcades of the Anna Grand Hotel. Along Blaha Street, stages and terraces host rolling literary and musical programs, while a roaming Book Cart anchors a continuous street book fair at the corner of Blaha Street (Blaha utca) and Medicinal Square (Gyógy tér). City publications are also on sale at the reception of the Modern Art Gallery (Modern Műtár).
Vibe and concept
It’s literature with music, and music with wine. The festival has evolved into one of Balatonfüred’s most spirited cultural meeting points, where a jazz solo can pair as naturally with a spritzer as with a freshly signed volume. The tone is casual, mostly outdoors, and built around conversations, discoveries, and tasting sessions that highlight the Balaton wine region’s present and future.
Opening notes
The kickoff strikes hard and bright. On Thursday, June 11, at 19:00 in the Kisfaludy Gallery, the Balázs Elemér Group sets the prologue with a set woven from world music and ethno-jazz elements—lyrical, propulsive, and unmistakably one of Hungary’s most acclaimed jazz voices on the international stage.
Friday: kids, letters, wine, debate, jazz
Friday morning belongs to the youngest. At 11:00, Vaszary Villa’s Széchenyi Room hosts Árpád Kollár’s paper-theater workshop for lower primary classes, inspired by his playful verse-and-story session titled Mire jó egy lyukas zacskó? (What Good Is a Bag with a Hole?).
From 16:00, terraces along Blaha Street start trading in pages and ideas. A key launch is Selected Letters of Gyula Illyés (Illyés Gyula válogatott levelezése), tracing the poet’s intellectual formation from childhood through his Paris years via a trove that includes previously unpublished correspondence. Editors Mária Illyés and Antal Babus present, followed by signings.
At 17:00, Kossuth and Mari Jászai Award–winning actor Gyula Szombathy talks about his book Nem kell annyi pábijubi, in conversation with Gábor Gellért, with signings to follow.
At 18:15, Women on Winemaking and Wine brings together Lilla Lukács, co-owner of Zelna Winery in Balatonfüred, and Titanella Szászi of Szászi Estate (Szászi Birtok)—one of the country’s first certified organic vineyards—to unpack sustainable viticulture, the nuances of vintages, women’s roles in the field, and the future of Balaton wine. The program includes a tasting, ticketed at $8.20 per person (converted from 3000 HUF).
At 19:15, Áron Czopf’s Counterrevolution (Ellenforradalom) enters the fray of contemporary public and political thought. Religious scholar Ábel Stamler, editor-in-chief of Hungarian Review (Magyar Szemle), leads a discussion on how today’s political and cultural fault lines can be read within broader intellectual history. Signing follows.
The evening grooves set in with the Attila Kiss Jazz Trio at 20:30 and BailaSola at 21:30 on Blaha Street.
Saturday: myths challenged, crime lit, and a wine summit
Saturday opens at 11:00 with a family favorite: the Cricket Band (Tücsök zenekar) hits the Blaha Street stage.
At 15:00 on the Blaha Restaurant terrace, literary historian Mihály Praznovszky introduces The One Who Died of Immortality (Aki belehalt a halhatatlanságba), a fresh look at the tragic fate of Erzsébet Fráter, wife of Imre Madách—aiming to topple one of Hungarian literary history’s most persistent family myths. Journalist Tibor Martinovics moderates; signings follow.
At 17:00, Crime in Contemporary Literature gathers writer Róbert Hász and critic Krisztina Kollarits, with poet Zsolt Nagy Koppány as moderator. Signing follows.
From 18:30, Balaton wine takes center stage with a roundtable on Blaha Street hosted by the Balaton Vince team: Wines, Trends, Balaton—What Ends Up in the Glass? The talk probes consumer shifts, experience-driven drinking, and how younger palates are reshaping the region’s output.
From 20:00, under the arcades of the Anna Grand Hotel, the Vince Balaton program ramps up with a Provençal rosé tasting, a Rizling Generáció masterclass, and a Champagne masterclass presented by Fine Brands Company. Back on Blaha Street, Róbert Szili and his jazz band perform at 20:30, followed by Jazz in Time at 22:00.
Tickets, tastings, extras
Most programs are free, with select tastings ticketed. The women-in-wine tasting on Friday costs $8.20 per person. Throughout both days, the Blaha Street book fair stays open, and author events typically conclude with signings. Between one sip and the next note, the festival makes its case: literature reads better when the soundtrack swings and the glass is local.
2026.06.12. – 2026.06.13., Balatonfüred, Blaha Street (Blaha utca)
