The Wine and Gastro Festival takes over Hajdúszoboszló from Friday to Sunday, September 18–20, 2026, filling Szent István Park with bold flavors, a deep bench of Hungarian wines, and a full slate of live shows, dance acts, concerts, and late-night DJ parties. It’s billed as the biggest autumn food festival in town, open to every generation—and entry won’t cost a cent. Location: 4200 Hajdúszoboszló, Szent István Park. Organizers reserve the right to change the program and timing, but the promise is clear: three days of food, music, and the best of Hungary’s wine regions, all in one green urban space.
This is a showcase for cities and local specialties, so expect stalls ranging from traditional csárda cooking to new-wave bistro bites and sweets, alongside regional craft drinks. The food and drink lineup aims wide: plates for a quick nibble between concerts, hearty classics for long-table afternoons, and desserts to match the wine flights. Evenings roll into DJ-led parties after the live sets, turning the park into one big open-air dance floor.
How to make a weekend of it
Hajdúszoboszló is a spa town with year-round lodgings, so festivalgoers can find everything from simple guesthouses to full-service wellness hotels. Hotel Barátság, the city’s tallest building, sits on the green hotel promenade and serves up a panoramic view. It comes with its own bath and wellness wing—therapy and alternating-temperature pools, hot tubs, saunas including infrared, and a steam room—geared for rest, recovery, or a relaxed morning after a late night. The hotel’s pitch is one-stop everything: rooms, wellness, and event spaces under one roof.
For apartment living close to the splash, multiple houses cluster within five minutes on foot from the famous baths and the beach. One holiday house just 1,312 feet from the strand sets up four separate-entry apartments upstairs—two doubles, a four-person, and a five-person—open all year. Others dot Kölcsey and Major streets, 328 and 656 feet from the beach gates, with restaurants, a market, and grocery stores nearby. Another apartment house, opened in June 2009, sits 656 feet from the strand and 492 feet from the bus station—quiet and convenient for arrivals with luggage in tow.
Guests who want silence between the music can slip into the garden district. Several guesthouses there are prized for calm nights, within a short walk of the Medical Spa (Gyógyfürdő) and Peace (Béke) Baths. One sits in a cul-de-sac with no through traffic, offers free courtyard parking, and shares a breakfast kitchen. Many stays run year-round, so late bookers aren’t out of luck.
Eat, sip, and stay out late
Between tastings at the festival, the town’s food scene is built for detours. U-Pub Bar is a local one-stop funhouse: escape room, bowling, billiards, darts, air hockey, and table soccer, with a broad drinks list at friendly prices and a guaranteed upbeat vibe. A minute from the Hungarospa Medical Spa (Hungarospa Gyógyfürdő) entrance, a creperie turns out sweet and savory palacsinta, plus lemonades, cocktails, specialty coffees, and artisan ice cream—ideal pre-show or nightcap fuel.
If you’re after a sit-down fix, Kemencés Csárda leans into Great Plain (Alföld) traditions with a refreshed take—menu and interiors shaped to honor old roadside inns while speaking today’s language. A romantic, popular complex near the spa offers a 150-seat covered terrace and an 80-seat upstairs panoramic terrace for long, lazy meals. The Mirage restaurant has been fully revamped, pairing an exclusive interior with a mood-setting pálinka wall, seasonal menus, and guest-first service. Nr. 8 in the bath district welcomes day and night guests—families and friends—serving classics and distinctive grill plates. Its summer-and-winter terrace runs April to late November, and the roughly 80-seat pergola ranks among the city’s biggest, with cocktails and warming sips for evening strollers.
Wellness central: more spa-side bases
A hotel-and-restaurant combo in the city’s tourism triangle places guests 984 feet from the Medical Spa (Gyógyfürdő) entrance and 1,640 feet from the center, underlining why spa towns make easy festival hubs. Major Guesthouse and Restaurant (Major Panzió és Étterem) plus apartments sit in the bath zone’s quieter pocket—eight minutes from the winter entrance and two minutes from the summer entrance, both at a comfortable walking clip.
Families and groups can stretch out at a 107-room hotel in the resort area with its own thermal and wellness wing. Room types run the gamut: doubles, triples, family apartments for 2+2, family rooms with bunk beds, and suites for a splash of luxury. Most rooms include TV, minibar, phone, and safe; some add air-conditioning and balconies. All come with private bathrooms. Another boutique-style stay with a cozy restaurant and patisserie layers a rich drinks menu over refined rooms—13 types in all—tuned for business travelers, couples, families, and the forever young, with options for bathtubs or showers in every category.
Plan the practicals
Festival hours span September 18–20, 2026, in Szent István Park, Hajdúszoboszló (postal code 4200). Entry is free. Organizers may update dates and programs; keep an eye on their channels for the latest. If you want a seat at a specific table or a bed near the baths, book ahead—autumn’s biggest gastro bash in Hajdúszoboszló has a way of filling the calendar fast. And when the DJ fires up after dark, the city of spas becomes the city that dances.
