In 2023, Budapest's iconic streets have joined forces to highlight the true meaning of Advent, instead of the Christmas rush. They encouraged people to slow down and replace the stress of the past season and the Christmas season with experiences and art.
This three-time City Marketing Diamond Award winner is like an advent calendar, with a concert, exhibition, theatre performance or workshop for every day. The focus was on collaboration and listening to each other.
In 2023, we organised this cavalcade of events for the sixth time. In the first year, three streets were involved, then five. The participants of the sixth SlowXmas were Falk Art&Antique Street (Falk Miksa Street), Bartók Béla Boulevard (Bartók Béla út), Fashion Street (Deák Ferenc Street), Margaret Quarter and Ráday Soho (Ráday Street).
In 2023, we collected the programmes between 24 November and 24 December and enticed people to participate (some exhibitions started earlier and some will end in January 2024). There were exhibitions, charity events, workshops, city walks, quizzes, concerts, theatre performances, wine tastings, guided tours and a combination of all these. More than 60 venues took part.
Bartók Béla Boulevard
The Bartók Béla Boulevard, or Bartók Béla Road, welcomed visitors to almost 30 locations, where the first Advent Fair was held on Gárdonyi Square on 16 December.
During the Advent programme, Sára Richter's exhibition Found Time opened at Íme Kult Tér, Autistic Art Gallery opened its doors for the first time, and a group exhibition entitled Perceptions debuted at Zsófi Faur Gallery, where works by Endre Lukoviczky and György Jovián were on display. In the KultPont, a local history postcard exhibition was organised by Edit Mika, and a craft fair was organised thanks to the Pest-Buda Crafts and Folk Art Public Benefit Association, while in the Fári Gallery, furniture and objects were on display for the festive interior.
The Ultramarinos Martinez Spanish DELI and tapas bar offered a traditional Andalusian performance, the Enter Bar offered a relaxing drink and the Small Press House offered discounted books from the Prae publishing house. The Szpot also hosted a musical literary evening.
In the Pár falat boldogság Konyhája (A Few Bites of Happiness Kitchen) we could prepare Christmas delicacies, in the Kréta bistro we could choose from mulled wine and rum chocolate, and in the Bor és Kézműves (Wine and Craft Shop) we could choose delicious drinks for the festive table.
At the Kornél gallery-shop-café, we could take part in a self-awareness storytelling workshop, while the Sensing and Discovery Workshop invited us on a series of exciting inner journeys. In the Zemse Studio we could make jewellery, and in the ArtMasters Creative Workshop we could take part in experiential painting and a host of object-making workshops.
Falk Art&Antique Street
In December, Art&Antique Street, the street of Miksa Falk, was buzzing with the sound of auction hammers, where the Bodó, Nagyházi and Pintér Galleries, among others, were holding their winter auctions.
From the beginning of December, the Kieselbach Gallery and the Judit Virág Gallery held a sophisticated auction exhibition in Falk Miksa Street, followed by the Kieselbach Gallery auction at the Budapest Marriott Hotel on 17 December and the Judit Virág Gallery auction at the Budapest Congress Centre on 16 December.
The Bodó Gallery and Auction House held its tenth Winter Auction, last year organising an unusual two-day auction on 13 and 14 December. The first day was dedicated to the auction of works of art, the second to paintings.
The first day was dedicated to the auction of paintings, furniture, works of art, carpets, silver and jewellery from the 19th and 20th centuries, while the second day was dedicated to the auction of works of art.
The Pintér Gallery's Christmas Grand Auction took place on 18 December and the exhibition of Károly Schmal was opened by Gábor Gelencsér, an aesthete, on 12 December and open until 10 January 2024.
A behind-the-scenes look at the auctions was held on 9 December, while on 16 December there was an Advent treasure hunt in Falk Miksa Street. The programme was reminiscent of Christmas in the old days, with art dealers talking about silver, porcelain and other holiday accessories.
Fashion Street
On the opening day of Fashion Street, in the evening of 21 November, there was a charity exhibition, a joint exhibition by Bea Hullan and Shane54.
On 6 December, visitors to Fashion Street were treated to Christmas lights, Lindt surprises and magic tricks, and the festive mood was set by a real star couple, Charlie Horváth and Vera Tóth. In keeping with the tradition of the street, the children for whom the Christmas season is not just about joyful celebrations were also taken into consideration, so this year, in partnership with Pappas Auto and with the support of the Magic Lamp Foundation, they granted the wish of two sick children who, as Santa's helpers, also took part in the lighting of the festive lights.
Margaret Quarter
In 2023, the Margit Quarter joined the Shopping and Thematic Streets, where a wide range of events, mainly art events, awaited visitors during Advent.
The Margit Quarter was also dominated by culture during Advent. Art-Színttér offered discounted tickets, and the MUMU Workshop Museum offered a total of 14 workshops. In the Picture Gallery, you could listen to a lecture on Renoir's colourful paintings, and in the Maminti Kuckó bookshop you could make an advent wreath. In the Margaret Quarter, there was yoga, and in the Start Gallery, you could meet artists.
A highlight of the programme was the Mechwart Liget Advent, where on 3, 10 and 17 December, a festive programme and a candle-lighting ceremony were held. There was a liberating adventure game for adults in the quarter, a painting class, a Bible mystery and miracle show at the Viziváros Community Space, a film "We have to live!" at the Habitat Creative Centre and a performance of "Chicken Drama" at the Yurányi House.
Ráday Soho
Jazz concerts, theatre performances and children's programmes were also on offer at Ráday.
Several exhibitions were on display in Ráday Soho during the Advent period, including an exhibition by artist Henrik Martin in the Art9 Gallery, where Károly Szikszai's exhibition was also on show. Meanwhile, the exhibition Efemer Erinnerezet - Alternative storytelling with images from the JPhoto Archive, where images by Eszter Andrádi and Szabolcs KissPál were on view at 2B Gallery, dealt with the issue of family memory and the preservation of Jewish memory.
The street was also full of musical experiences at the IF Cafe Jazz Club, where red is blue was the name of the game at the RedBaron in blue concert, but there was also relaxation with fusion jazz: a singer-flute evening with piano, two guitars, drums and even percussion, and classical jazz with Béla Szalóky's band.
Meanwhile, the Bible Museum offered a four-hour Advent programme, while the St. Francis of Assisi Parish Church, the Catholic Church of Bakáts Square, organised a treasure hunt tour on 9 December, entitled Treasure Hunt in Kisködmön.
The street was also full of theatre: at the Pince Theatre, a play in French with Hungarian subtitles entitled I fell in love with a ladder, conceived from the love of objects and sounds. The Stúdió K theatre staged Heinrich von Kleist's Katica Heilbrunni, and in collaboration with the Attitude Foundation, there was also a performance of The Blue Bird: in this lyrical drama by Nobel Prize-winning playwright Maurice Maeterlinck, two young children set off on a journey to find the mysterious Blue Bird. The theatre also held workshops for adults and staged a black comedy.
During SlowXmas, we also organised quizzes with valuable prizes at Bartók in the Szpot, Haas Gallery in Falk Miksa Street and Ráday in Csapszék. The theme of the quiz nights required some general knowledge, some Budapest knowledge and some basic information about the main organizer of SlowXmas, BUM Shopping Street Management, and the street in question.
With a total of 57 appearances (including 9 radio, 2 TV, 3 offline and 43 online), the SlowMXmas message reached more than 3 million people, a number that we hope will grow year on year.
The main sponsor of the event, as well as the main sponsor of the Shopping Street Management activities, is the Budapest Chamber of Commerce and Industry, without whom our message would not have reached so many people.
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We look forward to seeing you all again in 2024, let's slow down together and recharge together!
