Bathing in the Danube within the capital’s boundaries has always raised important issues regarding urban land use. The first so-called wooden bathhouses, built in the 1810s and 1820s, fenced off small areas of the Danube and made open-water swimming safely accessible until World War II, after which it was banned by decree due to pollution as well as budget deficits. It wasn’t until the 2010s that a turning point came for swimming in Budapest: thanks to improvements in water quality, the Római Public Beach was able to open for one day in 2019 and 2020, and then for a full month in 2021; as the city’s only designated Danube beach, it has been open to the public every summer since then.
Programs | 2023
Opening
River Baths in Budapest
Opening | Gideon Horváth: Memory That Could Have Been
Run Together | Luca Petrányi: Running with Saint Margaret
Virág Bogyó, Flóra Madácsi: Playstreet?!
Virág Bogyó, Flóra Madácsi: Playstreet?!
Roundtable Discussion | Virág Bogyó, Flóra Madácsi: A Play Street?!
Community Dance Performance | Luca Borsos, Márk Bartha: Dance the District
Guided tour | Gideon Horváth: Memory That Could Have Been
Book Club | Virág Bogyó, Flóra Madácsi: Play Street?!
Community Ritual | Gideon Horváth: Memory That Could Have Been
Picking and Preserving Quince | Anna Bíró, Dudás Andrea Fajgerné, Eszter Ágnes Szabó: Common Jam Map
Community Dance Performance | Luca Borsos, Márk Bartha: Dance the District
Bike tour, mental mapping of the wooden swimming pools, and water-touching exercises | Valyo – City and River Association: River Baths in Budapest – Swimming in the Danube in the Past and Future
Symposium | Anna Bíró, Andrea Fajgerné Dudás, Eszter Ágnes Szabó: Common Jam Map
A Walk with the Artist | Luca Petrányi: Running with Saint Margaret
Kristóf Kelemen, Tímea Török: Habitual Residence
Running with Konrád Dejcsics | Luca Petrányi: Running with Saint Margaret
Interactive Presentation | Gideon Horváth: Memory That Could Have Been
Film Screening | Valyo – City and River Association: River Baths in Budapest – Swimming in the Danube in the Past and Future
Performance | Kristóf Kelemen, Tímea Török: Habitual Residence
Tree Planting | Anna Bíró, Andrea Fajgerné Dudás, Eszter Ágnes Szabó: Common Jam Map
A Walk Through the Memory of the Porajmos | DePART Collective: If All Ears Could Hear
Guided Walk | Balázs Antal: Niche
Opening | DePART Collective: If All Ears Could Hear
Island Circuit with Saint Margaret | Group Run – Luca Petrányi: Running with Saint Margaret
Bike tour, mental mapping of the wooden swimming pools, and water-touching exercises | Valyo – City and River Association: River Baths in Budapest – Swimming in the Danube in the Past and Future
DePART Collective: If All Ears Could Hear