Hungary

Last update: March, 2025

Hungarian cultural policy explicitly links participation in cultural life to the issue of national identity. Both of the state programmes that are aimed to increase participation and eliminate social inequalities in access to culture, explicitly aims the strengthening of national identity as well. Lázár Ervin Programme, founded in 2019 is meant for schoolchildren and „aims to pass on the millennial Hungarian culture to future generations.” Once per school year, all pupils in grades 1-8 have the opportunity to attend free theatre, dance, circus, classical and folk music performances under the Programme. Performers must apply to register their productions in the LEP system. Between 2019 and 2024, more than 2.2 million children have attended performances via the programme.

Déryné Programme (since 2020) is aimed for general audience and restricted to theatre productions. The aim of the programme is to bring high quality theatre productions to as many communities as possible in the country, especially to those places where the local population has been lacking in “high culture.” Performances can be seen free of charge or for a maximum registration fee of 200 HUF (0.5 Euro), and the host venues only have to pay a nominal fee for the productions, so that even the smallest settlements can benefit from the programme.

Companies can apply for the Déryné programme with classical and mainly Hungarian plays. The aim is much more to preserve tradition than to promote contemporary culture. In four years, 644 settlements have registered to the programme and 1184 productions have been realised in local cultural centres/open air spots. The programme has been criticised for the fact that the selection of productions is decided by a board of trustees chaired by the director of the National Theatre. Beyond their virtues, critics suggest that both the Lazar and Déryné programmes are symptomatic of clientelism.

The provision of basic cultural supply is a stated component of the cultural policy of the government. Local cultural centres are key in this endeavour, both by involving citizens in their activities and by offering venues. Nevertheless, there is no general strategy dedicated to audience development.

Events such as the World Days of Music, the Day of Open Heritage, ICOMOS international Day on Monuments and Sites, the Night of Museums, the Month of Libraries etc., are becoming increasingly vigorous and public subsidy accorded to them is also becoming increasingly well planned. Public relations activity for these events is highly professional and their influence over the public is growing.

Teachers get a significant discount on admission to museums and other public cultural institutions with a teacher’s card. Usually there is a family ticket, but there is a debate about the narrow definition of family (same-sex couples and even single-parent families are excluded).

Last update: March, 2025

During the communist period, cultural participation in Hungarian society was general and high. After the fall of communism, it declined due to a decrease in state funding. By the 2010s, however, cultural participation showed signs of robust consolidation. It is true that the participation figures for the 1990s and 2000s are not necessarily comparable with later years, as the range of productions included has been broadened since then. However, this change reflects a shift in perception that not only formal, institutionalised productions count as culture.

The downturn during the COVID epidemic has left a strong imprint on participation data for 2020. The latest available data, 2023, shows a post-epidemic recovery in almost all genres.

Table 8:    Cinema, theatre, museum and concert statistics, 1990-2023

Source:  Central Statistical Office.
Note:     * From 2008, statistics include independent / alternative theatres, too. Only classical music is included under concerts; from 2008, statistics cover a fuller range than previously.

Table 9: Library statistics, 1990-2023

Source:  Central Statistical Office.

The overall number of cultural institutions per 100 000 inhabitants has stagnated over the past five years, with the number of theatres rising slightly and libraries falling.

Public cultural institutions were the most common type of cultural institution, with 62 per 100 000 inhabitants in 2023, compared to 39 libraries. It is becoming increasingly common to move these two types of institutions under one "roof", which helps to optimise their maintenance costs.

The accessibility of cinemas, museums and theatres is more limited and is mainly concentrated in larger cities.

In 2021, a nationally representative survey was carried out that included questions about cultural participation (Table X). The first three rows of the table show participation in cultural activities that are heavily subsidised by the government, while the others show the consumption of more market-based cultural products.

Table 10:      Participation in cultural activities, 2021
How often in the past year you have participated in the following cultural activities? (%)

Source: National representative survey, HUN-REN Centre of Social Sciences, Centre of Social Mobility

According to the data of this survey, all forms of cultural participation show a positive correlation with educational attainment, i.e. higher educated people participate more often. In addition, there is a strong spatial inequality in the consumption of culture: participation is higher in urban areas than in rural areas. Also, the cultural participation of the capital city and its agglomeration, as well as the economically developed North-West Hungary, is higher.

Last update: March, 2025

Table 11:      Household cultural expenditure by expenditure purpose, 2020-2023

Source:  Central Statistical Office

Unfortunately, no more detailed data are available. 2020 as a base year shows the impact of the pandemic. The share of cultural expenditures has slightly increased in the next couple of years.

Last update: March, 2025

The strength of Hungarian amateur cultural activities lies in the good infrastructure and the network of "művelődési házak" (local cultural and community centres). The political control of the communist system over them cast a shadow on the institution, yet the network of multi-purpose cultural institutions has re-gained its position all over the country after the fall of the old regime. These centres give home to cultural associations and amateur groups in all sectors of culture. Whether their programmes are described as adult education, social policy or youth policy, local cultural centres in Hungary have always been considered part of the cultural sector.  In most smaller towns and villages local cultural policy is almost synonymous with maintaining these centres, absorbing the greater part of the cultural budget. Types of activity in the local cultural and community centres include lectures, workshops, exhibitions, arts events, folklore events, entertainment, training and other community events.

Table 12:  Statistics of local cultural/community centres, 2000-2023

Source: Central Statistical Office

The number of local cultural and community centres has been stable in recent years. The number of events organised by them is on the rise again after the years of pandemic.

The activities of the network of local centres were until 2016 coordinated by the National Institute of Public Culture (Nemzeti Művelődési Intézet), a state institute. This function has since been outsourced to a nonprofit limited company of the same name, owned by Lakitelek Népfőiskola Alapítvány, a private foundation.

Cultivating folk culture is traditionally an important function of these institutions. A particular offshoot of this is the grass root phenomenon of "dance houses" from the 1970s, still popular today, where traditional peasant dances are being learned and enjoyed as present-day entertainment. However, in the 2020ies, folk dance is increasingly only for children.

The Hungarian Heritage House is a national institution founded in 2001 and maintained by the Ministry of Human Resources. It serves as a platform for associations and groups preserving folk culture and citizens to meet through numerous performances and interactive, educative programmes. It also provides further education for cultural managers in the field of folk arts.

The national representative survey mentioned earlier, also contained questions on local cultural activities.

Table 13:      Participation in local cultural activities, 2021
How often in the past year you have participated in the following cultural activities? (%)

Source: National representative survey, HUN-REN Centre of Social Sciences, Centre of Social Mobility

The data show that these events are mainly attended by people under 60, with no significant gender differences. The smaller the settlement in which the respondent lives, the more likely they are to attend local cultural events.