Szekszárd is packing 2026 with music that swings from classical to pop, from intimate club nights to open-air shows. The calendar is rich with concerts, festivals, all-arts happenings, and food-forward events, with guaranteed and optional leisure programs layered in for visitors who want more than just a ticket stub. The city’s wine culture powers the mood year-round, with tasting rooms, cellars, and countryside estates turning weekends into mini-retreats.
Winter to Spring: Stages Warm Up
February starts with Miklós H. Vecsei and QJÚB (Vecsei H. Miklós és a QJÚB) on February 11, a concert evening in Szekszárd with tickets at roughly $8.35. On March 1, Cellomania (Csellómánia) brings the young cellists of the Liszt Academy’s Béla Bartók Conservatory for a top-level recital. A week later, on March 8, the We Love in Hungarian! Band (Magyarul Szeretjük! Zenekar) takes over for a Women’s Day celebration, dialing up the energy with familiar Hungarian hits.
On March 12, From Soul to Soul – Evergreen Hits from Dohány Street to Broadway (Lélektől lélekig – Evergreen slágerek a Dohány utcától a Broadwayig) bridges classic Jewish melodies and show tunes with lush arrangements. Then March 17 promises flash and finesse with The World’s Best Guitarist – Swing à la Django (A világ legjobb gitárosa – Swing à la Django), a Gypsy jazz tour de force in the Hot Club tradition.
Summer Memories, Autumn Mastery
By late spring, nostalgia leads. On May 21, What Am I Without Music… (Zene nélkül mit érek én…)—a joint tribute to Zsuzsa Cserháti (Cserháti Zsuzsa) and Péter Máté (Máté Péter)—goes full-on golden-age pop, with tickets around $24.80. As the leaves turn, organist Gergely Rákász returns on November 6 with MOZART, a concert-performance blend that treats the composer as both musical titan and human storyteller; tickets run about $15.20.
Where to Stay: From City Wine Hotel to Roadside Ease
Hotel Merops, a four-star wine hotel in downtown Szekszárd, sits next to the Mészáros wine house and a short stroll from the city center. It’s built for quiet recharge or active downtime, with a distinctive interior, an attentive team, and tailored services. The property offers 8 rooms and 2 apartments, and teams up with local gastronomy and events across the city and countryside. At the Nádasdi House, the on-site Main Street Bistro wins locals and travelers with a broad menu and standout dishes, while wine tastings round out the experience. Their cellar hosts events with full Szekszárd flair—birthdays, friendly dinners, or corporate evenings that feel far from ordinary.
Sió Motel sits at Szekszárd’s northern gate along Route 6 between the Szekszárd and Tolna wine regions, close to the Gemenc Forest and bordering Sárköz on a 2.5-hectare site. For a modern three-star option, Hotel Zodiaco is the only one of its kind in and around Szekszárd, run on a simple philosophy: keep improving so business trips and weekend breaks get better every year.
Wine Roads: Estates, Cellars, and Experiments
Attila Estate (Attila Birtok) spreads across 14 hectares in the Baranya Valley, working Blaufränkisch (Kékfrankos), Kadarka, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Zweigelt. The culinary side shines nearby at Bodri, where chef Norbert Makk anchors a refreshed, modernized Hungarian kitchen built for perfect pairings with Bodri wines. The Bodri Winery (Bodri Pincészet) is a 247-acre tourism hub on Szekszárd’s southern edge, set in a picturesque valley: a 19,375-square-foot grand cellar shaped by twelve domes, a 3,229-square-foot aging cellar open during tours, and a 15,069-square-foot rosé facility for large-scale, high-quality production. The Bodri estate hosts up to 61 guests in carefully designed rooms and pampers them with a thermal-water underground Roman bath, jacuzzi, and sauna. At the Optimus Restaurant, the kitchen narrates Hungary’s culinary diversity with a light contemporary touch.
Borfaragó Cellar (Borfaragó Pince), in the heart of the “upper town,” pairs artisan wines with folk woodcarving in a former carpenter’s and woodcarver’s workshop. It’s deliberately a little out of the spotlight yet easy to reach, a discreet base for friends or colleagues to gather over tastings.
Vineyards centered on the Várdomb hillside put Blaufränkisch (Kékfrankos) front and center for both single-varietal bottlings and as the backbone of blends. The range also gives prime attention to Riesling, Cserszegi Fűszeres, Kadarka, Portugieser (Kékoportó), Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Syrah. One local artisan winery grows only its own grapes, and the process is purist: no cultured yeasts, malolactic inoculants, enzymes, fining agents, colorants, or flavor, aroma, and acidity modifiers. No filtration, sterilization, oxygen dosing, or heat treatments either—and every wine is bottled unfiltered.
Rosé Darlings, Red Icons
Another cellar leans into Szekszárd’s signature styles while experimenting widely. They push new blends and make rosés from almost every red grape they farm, racking up serious medals abroad. The reds remain a point of pride, driven by local heroes like Blaufränkisch (Kékfrankos) and Kadarka, accented by global stars—Merlot, Cabernet, and Pinot Noir—without losing the distinct Szekszárd character. For something different, they encourage visitors to switch off on the vineyard hill, lean back, and just enjoy good wine.
Heritage Poured: Family Cellars
The Eszterbauer family, with Swabian and Serbian roots, runs a tradition-steeped winery in Szekszárd. Their representative wine house and show cellar host tastings led by family members. Groups of 8 to 50 can book tastings with food ranging from simple bites to multi-course dinners, and their webshop carries award-winning bottles.
A family winery working 6.6 hectares across four terroirs plants Syrah, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Blaufränkisch (Kékfrankos). It’s a snapshot of Szekszárd right now: heritage grapes, fresh blood, and the confidence to pour both.
The organizers reserve the right to change dates and programs.
