Contest rules

BUDAPEST PLAY
Budapest Street Music Festival 2026

Updated: 23 June 2026 · Version: 1.2

1. Organiser: Municipality of Budapest

Address: 1052 Budapest, Városház utca 9-11, Hungary
Tax number: 15735636-2-41
Company registration number: 73 56 38
Representative: Gergely Karácsony

2. Organiser: Inspired Selection Kft.

Address: 1021 Budapest, Hűvösvölgyi út 64-66, Hungary
Tax number: 23754999-2-41
Company registration number: 20 09 072278
Representative: Áron Sebestyén

The organisers of the Contest are the Municipality of Budapest; co-organiser and operator is Inspired Selection Kft. Musical director of the Budapest Play Festival: Áron Sebestyén.

3. Participants in the Contest

  1. The Budapest Play Street Music Festival (hereinafter: the Contest) was created for musicians, street musicians, and performers wishing to introduce themselves (hereinafter: Contestant). The Contest may offer opportunities for exposure as well as professional networking. Winners receive valuable professional prizes. Any natural person who has reached the age of 18 may participate regardless of nationality. Artists from anywhere in the world may apply. Entry is free of charge. The Budapest Play festival is organised by the professional team behind the former Buda Street Music Festival.

  2. Employees of the Organiser and their close relatives may not participate in the Contest (Section 8:1 (1) point 2 of the Hungarian Civil Code).

  3. Participation in the Contest is voluntary. By taking part, participants expressly accept these contest rules in every respect. The organisers do not pay fees to musicians performing at the festival.

4. Duration of the Contest and key dates

  1. The Contest runs from 23 June 2026 to 8 August 2026.

  2. Key dates:

    • 23 June 2026 Start of the application period, press announcement

    • 17 July 2026, 23:59 Application deadline

    • 17–22 July 2026 Pre-selection of applicants

    • 23 July 2026 Announcement of contestants selected to participate

    • 30 and 31 July, 1 August, and 6, 7 and 8 August 2026 Festival period

5. Description of the Contest

  1. Contestants must perform at one of the designated street-music spots during the festival, according to the schedule announced in advance. After the application period closes, the organisers will prepare the detailed festival programme by 23 July and notify contestants of their performance slot and location.

  2. The jury will be announced on 23 June at the festival press briefing.

  3. Solo acts and duos may apply for the festival and contest. Musical acts may participate with a maximum of two members.

  4. Registration: applications are submitted by completing the registration form at www.budapestplay.hu. The application form requires: last name, first name, e-mail address, phone number, short professional introduction (max. 500 characters), musical showcase (YouTube link), portrait photo, and website or social media page (artist page, if available).

  5. Pre-selection: festival participation is not automatic upon application. The festival’s professional committee selects performing artists through pre-selection. The jury evaluates applicants on professional grounds, including:

    • quality of performance

    • rhythm and instrumental skill

    • vocal ability

    • uniqueness of musical identity

    Artists selected for the contest will be published by the organiser at www.budapestplay.hu on 23 July 2026.

  6. Selection of winners: during the festival, performing musicians are evaluated by the professional jury through scoring. Based on live performance, the jury awards 1–10 points. After scores are totalled, the main professional prize goes to the contestant with the highest score. Scores are aggregated in the festival’s online voting system.

  7. Evaluation criteria:

    • quality of performance

    • rhythm and instrumental skill

    • vocal ability

    • uniqueness of musical identity

    • audience appeal

    • communication

  8. In addition to the professional prize, the audience may vote for performers. Audience voting takes place during performances by scanning each performer’s unique QR code. Each performer may receive one vote per IP address, but the audience may vote for any number of performers within a single day. Scanning the QR code displays the performer’s photo, introduction, and a Vote button to cast a vote.

  9. Entry to the Contest is free for everyone.

  10. Contestants will be notified by e-mail whether their application is accepted or rejected, by 23 July at the latest.

  11. Applications submitted after 23:59:59 on the deadline day, whether via the website or the festival’s official e-mail address, will not be accepted in any form.

  12. The festival’s street-music spots are located at 10 different public spaces in Budapest.

  13. Basic sound reinforcement is provided on site by the organiser. Every musician must bring their own instruments and equipment suitable for street performance; however, basic P.A. equipment is provided at every street-music spot. Power supply cannot be guaranteed at every spot. Requirements and the capabilities of each assigned spot will be clarified in individual consultations with selected applicants when scheduling performances.

  14. Contestants must arrive at the venue at least 30 minutes before their performance, sober and fit to perform. If a contestant fails to appear at the scheduled time, the organisers may disqualify them from the contest.

  15. On site, contestants must refrain from expressing political or religious views and from using offensive language. Violations may lead to removal from the festival programme and disqualification from the contest.

  16. At every street-music spot, an organiser will welcome performers and assist with technical setup.

6. Prizes

  1. The organisers award prizes in three categories.

    • Budapest Play Grand Prize – Street Musician of the Year
      Prizes: instrumental production mentoring for an original song (arrangement and mixing) with an established music producer, performance opportunity at Sziget Festival on a featured stage, Sziget weekly pass, performance opportunity at Budapest Park.

    • Audience Prize – Most Popular Street Musician of the Year
      Prizes: instrumental production mentoring for an original song with an established music professional, Sziget Festival 2026 performance opportunity at one of the designated street-music spots, Sziget weekly pass, performance opportunity at the Budapest Park street-music spot.

    • Special awardees
      Prizes: Sziget Festival performance opportunity at one of the designated street-music spots, Sziget weekly pass, performance opportunity at the Budapest Park street-music spot.

    • Other material prizes
      The festival’s professional team awards further valuable audio and instrument prizes to outstanding musicians, thanks to contributions from Avigo, Ortega Hungary, Ibanez, Árkádia Music Store, and Bertaudio (AKG and JBL products). The professional jury announces prize winners at the results ceremony on the final day of the contest, 8 August 2026 at 18:00 at Fény Street Market. All applicants are warmly welcome to attend.

  2. Production mentoring for professional and audience-prize winners must be completed within 12 months of the results ceremony on 8 August 2026.

  3. The Organiser reserves the right to award additional prizes beyond those defined in these rules.

  4. The Organiser may cancel the Contest if insufficient applications are received.

7. Determining the winners

  1. The jury appointed by the Organiser makes professional recommendations for the winner (and reserve winner) using the voting system on the contest website. Based on QR codes placed on site, the audience may vote online for the best performer. Votes are aggregated by the online system. The contestant with the most votes receives the audience prize.

Jury

  • The jury consists of recognised songwriters and musicians from the music industry.

  • Jury evaluation and voting are confidential; jury decisions are final and not subject to challenge.

8. Notification of winners

  1. After winners are determined, and no later than 9 August 2026, the Organiser will publish the names of winners and other placed contestants in a separate post on the www.facebook.com/budapestplay Facebook page upon conclusion of the Contest, by uploading a document containing the list of names. By accepting these contest rules, participants consent to this publication.

  2. The Organiser bears no liability if winners do not learn of their win due to individual Facebook settings (e.g. they do not receive an automatic notification).

9. Withdrawal from the Contest by the Contestant

During the application period, a Contestant may withdraw by sending a cancellation e-mail to hello@budapestplay.hu. In that case, the Contestant will not take part in jury evaluation.

10. Grounds for disqualification

  1. Contestants may be disqualified without explanation if they breach these contest rules.

  2. Contestants may also be disqualified if their comments and/or posts on the Organiser’s Facebook page:

    • are politically charged,

    • are racist or discriminatory on religious, ethnic, or any other grounds,

    • incite fear in any ethnic group, insult anyone’s identity, or encourage such conduct,

    • contain pornographic content,

    • are gratuitously offensive,

    • contain or encourage misdemeanours or criminal offences,

    • infringe copyright or related rights,

    • on any forum (offline or online) harm the Organiser’s reputation or business interests, or contain remarks offensive to any Contestant’s human dignity.

  3. Disqualification from the contest may result in being banned from www.facebook.com/budapestplay.

11. Communication on the www.facebook.com/budapestplay Facebook page

By participating in the Contest, the Contestant accepts the principles of impartial, moderated communication on the page. We do not wish to continue or display negative communication about the Contest or the Organiser on the page; such content will be removed. The author of a removed post or comment will be notified by Facebook message on the first occasion. Questions or complaints about the Contest or its organisation should be sent to the Admin via private Facebook message.

12. Taxation of prizes

The Organiser bears and pays taxes and contributions on prizes based on personal data provided by the winner. The Organiser bears and pays postal costs. All other costs – such as travel costs related to receiving a prize, or costs connected with travel that forms part of the prize subject but is not itself part of the prize – must be borne by the Contestant. Prizes cannot be exchanged for cash.

13. Data processing and privacy

  1. Data processing and privacy provisions applicable during the Contest are set out in the Privacy Policy attached as Annex 1 to these contest rules.

  2. Contestants must provide their own accurate data when registering. The Organiser bears no liability if a Contestant registers in another person’s name or using another person’s data. The Organiser accepts no responsibility for problems or errors arising from incorrect or inaccurate data provided by the Contestant.

  3. Please notify us immediately of any unauthorised use of your data or any other breach of security.

  4. Contestants may review and amend their data at any time. The Organiser and/or Operator may delete clearly incorrect or false data.

  5. Providing data is voluntary; however, the Contestant acknowledges that

    • failure to provide data necessary to run the Contest, or requesting deletion before prize handover, will result in disqualification; and

    • where law requires the Organiser to retain certain data, deletion requested by the Contestant can only be carried out after that mandatory retention period ends.

14. Disclaimer, force majeure

  1. The Organiser excludes all liability for any compensation or indemnification claims arising from participation in the Contest, from any defects, shortcomings, or malfunction of the Contest, or from delays during the Contest and related or resulting costs, damages, or losses.

  2. The Organiser accepts no liability for incomplete data provided by the Contestant or resulting delays in notification. Contestants bear all consequences of data they provide incorrectly. The Organiser cannot verify accuracy of data at or after application. Legal and financial consequences in this regard always rest with the Contestant. Where incomplete or incorrect data emerges after selection, the Contestant excludes themselves from the Contest and from receiving prizes.

15. Conditions for accepting donations

During festival performances, placing a hat, guitar case, etc. is permitted. By participating in the festival, the Contestant accepts the obligation to declare income earned during the festival in their personal income tax return to the Hungarian National Tax and Customs Administration.

16. Other provisions

  1. The Organiser reserves the right to exclude from any current or future contest anyone who commits fraud or falsification in any contest organised by the Organiser.

  2. The Organiser accepts no liability for incomplete or incorrect postal addresses provided by the Contestant (e.g. misspelled name or address), failure or delay of postal delivery for that reason, or damage during delivery or shipping.

  3. The Organiser’s liability for prizes is governed by the general rules of the Hungarian Civil Code.

  4. By participating in the Contest, the Contestant automatically accepts these rules.

  5. The Organiser reserves the right to amend or supplement these contest rules at any time.

  6. These contest rules are available at: https://budapestplay.hu/en/legal/contest-rules

  7. These rules take effect on 23 June 2026.

  8. These rules were prepared in Hungarian.

  9. Unless applicable law provides otherwise, the laws of Hungary govern the entire legal relationship between the Contest participant and the Organiser.

  10. If any provision of these rules becomes invalid in whole or in part, the Organiser undertakes to amend it without delay. Invalidity of one provision does not affect the remaining provisions, which remain in force.

  11. The artistic director of the contest makes final decisions on all organisational matters. Such decisions are irrevocable and not subject to claim.

  12. The Organiser has the right to change participation rules. The version number and update date in the heading indicate the current version of these contest rules.

  13. The Organiser will not accept any complaint relating to the Contest more than 90 days after the Contest ends.

BUDAPEST PLAY – BUDAPEST STREET MUSIC FESTIVAL 2026
Budapest, 23 June 2026