The main venue for the exhibition fifty years ago was the HUNGEXPO Budapest Exhibition and Convention Centre. By 2021 this will be fully refurbished, and will serve as an ideal home for what is planned as the main attraction of the Exhibition: an imposing multilingual central exhibition, showcasing the international contributions of guests from all over the world. The exhibition centre is just five kilometres from the heart of Budapest and about fifteen kilometres from the airport. It occupies an area of over 35 hectares, with over 55,000 square metres of exhibition space.

The HUNGEXPO exhibition centre’s environs are also being upgraded, with a major increase in the amount of green space. The 2020 International Eucharistic Congress will be the first event to enjoy these renewed spaces, which will be much greener than at present. Thanks to the planned developments, the HUNGEXPO exhibition centre will also be capable of hosting similarly high-prestige major international events after the World Exhibition. The exhibition will open its doors to Hungarian and international visitors from 25 September to 14 October 2021.

Another high-profile venue in the capital – which was also important for the 1971 event – will be Budapest Zoo and Botanical Garden. Species will be presented in a biodome in the “Pannonian Park” (the former site of Budapest’s Amusement Park), construction of which is already well under way, and which will be complete by 2021. Visitors will also be able to see simulated habitats showcasing the ecosystems, flora and characteristic fauna of the Carpathian Basin. In addition to all this, in Budapest cultural and specialist events will also be held in the City Park, the Hungarian Museum of Agriculture, the Museum of Fine Arts, the Kunsthalle, the Palace of the Arts, the Hungarian State Opera House and the Academy of Music.

The Hunting Museum housed in the Grassalkovich Mansion has been welcoming visitors interested in hunting and nature since 2014, with varied displays featuring modern, interactive elements. Local specialists are presenting, for instance, the historical and cultural aspects of hunting, the development of net fishing and angling, the Carpathian Basin’s characteristic habitats and game species, and the work of famous hunting writers – with particular emphasis on Zsigmond Széchenyi, after whom the museum is named and in whose honour a room has been dedicated to the display of his personal belongings. By the year of the World Exhibition, the displays of our national hunting museum will be brought even further up to date, in line with 21st century demands. The museum staff will be using our museum’s education programmes to raise awareness among children and young people of hunting and game management as activities which preserve nature’s fragile balance. In the period leading up to 2021 the museum will also be the venue for several specialist conferences relating to game management.

The museum is part of the Helikon Palace Museum in the former Festetics Palace. With examples of some two hundred game species from five continents and over one hundred trophies, it presents an insight into the world’s natural treasures and the importance of hunting as an activity promoting sustainable conservation. The exhibition includes the full collection of hundreds of trophies owned by the Prince of Windisch-Grätz, the personal possessions of Zsigmond Széchenyi and Kálmán Kittenberger, and a significant part of the trophy collection of the present-day hunter Béla Hidvégi. In addition to all this, visitors can also view a range of fine and applied art, spectacular weapons, paintings, statues and porcelain pieces. In 2021 Keszthely will not only be an important centre of information, but also an important venue for the European Deer Calling Championship.