Halloween in Budapest - Jack-O-Lantern Festival in Heroes' Square

In celebration of Halloween, today's post looks at seasonal festivities in some of Budapest's well designed public spaces. 

Halloween has only recently begun to be celebrated in Budapest. My wife and I had a great time this year dressing up our kids in costumes and enjoying the festivities like trick-or-treating on Raday Utca - one of the city's beautiful restaurant-lined streets.

We ended our evening at Budapest's Heroes' Square - one of the city's main signature public spaces - which is grandly flanked by porticoed museums and terminates a marvelous multi-way boulevard.

The square is used throughout the year for a variety of concerts, shows and other events. I wrote a while back about how Heroes' Square is closed to traffic and transformed into a horse track for the annual Nemzeti Vagta (National Gallop) celebration:

Well, for Halloween, Heroes' Square is the site of a wonderful, spontaneously-organized Jack-O-Lantern Festival.

Many people have recently begun carving Halloween pumpkins with their children, and wanted a place to share their creations. Heroes' Square, as one of the public 'living rooms' for the city, seemed like just the place.

Today, hundreds of people show up at Halloween and place their lighted Jack-O-Lanterns on the pedestals of the various Belle Époque monuments. Crowds slowly circulate to marvel at the display, take photographs and discuss their favorites.

A great ending to a great day celebrating Halloween in Budapest!