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The Goals of Szabihíd

Szabihíd is a non-profit cultural event, an occasion for the pedestrian use of the Liberty Bridge. Its aim is to bring people closer to urban spaces, to their city and to the river that runs through it, and uncover the opportunities lying in our public spaces.

With collaboration of The Municipality of Budapest, VALYO (Város és Folyó – City and River) reopens the Liberty brige for the pedestrian use for 4 summer weekends:

6–7 / 13–14 / 20–21 / 27–28 July 2019
Liberty bridge, Budapest

Program

Our aim is for the bridge to be a public space, therefore, you are free to organize any kind of program to your liking as long as you are not disturbing anyone else.

Program of Szabihíd 2019

If you would like organize a program, please fill out this form to notify us or send us an e-mail to szabihid@valyo.hu, so we can ensure that you have a free time-slot. If you create a Facebook event, please tag Szabihíd as a location and share the draft event with us before publishing it. Please copy THE GOALS OF SZABIHÍD to the beginning of the description of your event.

  • You can organize an event for any time between 3pm on Saturday and 10pm on Sunday.
  • It is not allowed to build any kind of infrastructure or a stage, there’s no electricity.
  • Please consider that there can be various events going on simultaneously on the bridge – please do not disturb the others.
  • We do not allow political events.

General Rules

Public space
Szabihíd is a public space. You are on the bridge at your own risk.

Food/drinks
There is space, there is no commerce. Do not try to sell anything. Bring something home-made and share it!

Bathroom
You can find it on the Buda side. Use it!

Trash
Do not leave your waste on the bridge and certainly do not throw it in the Danube. Use the recycling bins!

Attention
Szabihíd belongs to everyone. Feel free to enjoy yourself, but pay attention to those around you.

Biking
The bridge is a traffic-free zone. Use your bicycle only on the dedicated southern sidewalk! At the same time, do not sit around on that side of the bridge!

Politics
Our whole life is politics, so keep that out of this space.

Programs
Organize your own program! You can find the details above. The full list of programs is available on the Szabihíd Facebook page.

The History of Szabihíd

Between 2011 and 2017, Valyo has organized a number of actions during which they have taken possession of areas closed off from traffic. The association has organized picnics and concerts, and took over public spaces along the Danube during construction works and sporting events as well as floods.

In 2017, there were no traffic renovations – however, Valyo started a guerrilla media campaign in order to free the bridge once again. Influenced by the association’s initiative, residents have taken possession of the bridge and it became a traffic-free zone.

The Szabihíd Project continued in 2018 as well. Now it became a routine for city-dwellers to take over the bridge. It became natural to use the bridge as a public space. People enjoyed the freedom of Szabihíd lounging in the hammocks both provided by Valyo and brought by themselves. They organized sporting events, yoga classes, parties. The Szabihíd Project irrevocably became a part of Budapest.

Szabihíd FILM 2017

Szabihíd Workshop

In the spring of 2019, the Valyo Association has started a series of workshops entitled Szabihíd Meet Up. The goal of the workshops was to brainstorm together about the possibilities of Szabihíd in the future as well as figuring out innovative solutions to the problems which arose during the organization process.

On 29 March, the workshop primarily focused on the question of traffic. Following presentations by Valyo, the Hungarian Bicycle Club and Közlekedő Tömeg (Commuting Crowd), during a roundtable discussion, the concept of transforming the Liberty Bridge into a permanently car-free bridge for pedestrians and bikers – naturally, with the preservation of the tramline – has evolved as a long-term goal of the Szabihíd Project.

On 10 April, Valyo held an Art Workshop where we brainstormed together with cultural program organizers and creatives about the possibilities and the benefits of Szabihíd as well as possible location-specific programs.

On 24 April, at the Szabihíd Infra Workshop, teams consisting mostly of architecture students have designed various solutions for traffic diversion, bicycle storage, shading devices, seating and stage installation. Besides these location-specific space elements, a few ideas for encouraging recycling, including games and info design plans, were also devised.

SUPPORT THE SZABIHÍD PROJECT!

You can support us in many ways – during the Szabihíd event, feel free to buy some of our Szabihíd branded products to help us organise many other events related to the city and the river!

The coordination and preparation of the Szabihíd Project is done entirely by the volunteers of the VALYO – City and River Association. You can support us with donations. Our Magnet Bank account number is 16200151-18536955. Thank you!

SUPPORT

Our Partners

Város és Folyó Egyesület

1085, Budapest, Mária utca 18.

tax-id:18594971-1-42

bank-acc:16200151-18531541

© Copyright 2019 VALYO