Xpat Charity Party: Budapest Bonfire Night 2017 (1 of 2)

On November 5th a great group of 200+ expats and locals attended this Bonfire Night themed event in Budapest to mark the 17th anniversary of XpatLoop, raising over HUF 5 Million in aid of Hungarian children in need - a record amount for the annual Xpat Charity Party.

The festivities featured a virtual bonfire + fireworks display, a special 'fireworks dance performance' choreographed especially for this event by internationBalLET, live soul and funky numbers by Fruzsi Vincze, a star solo performance by Dávid Hegyi, wine casino games from 'Taste & Play', party tunes from Buddha Bar DJ Mr. T, and a fine array of international refreshments.

Heartfelt thanks were given for the enthusiastic support of many good people and kind companies, of course there is only space here to highlight a few, such as Her Majesty's Ambassador Iain Lindsay OBE, Zsuzsa Demcsák, Venue Sponsor: Budapest Marriott Hotel, Main Sponsor: FirstMed, Silver Sponsors: Curry House, Special Effects, and Supporting Sponsors: Kreativ Dental Clinic, Pappas Auto Magyarország. Click here for more about all involved.

Amongst the altruistic VIP's on the guest list, in no particular order, were HE Eric Fournier, French Ambassador, HE Maria José Teixeira de Morais Pires, Portuguese Ambassador, HE Jose Angel Lopez Jorrin, Spanish Ambassador, HE Massimo Rustico, Italian Ambassador, David Kostelancik, US Chargé d’Affaires, HE Rahul Chhabra, Indian Ambassador, HE Mohammed Abdulhadi Al Matrafi, Saudi Ambassador, HE Marie-France André, Belgian Ambassador, Gerhard Staflinger, Austrian Attaché, and of course HE Iain Lindsay OBE, British Ambassador.

This social networking occasion was well attended - especially for a Sunday night - and brought together loyal readers with highly regarded clients and partners of XpatLoop, including Angela Fairs, Petra Szalai, Richard Dyer, Paul Slocombe, William Clothier.

Last but not least Marvin Gauci deserves a positive shout-out, at the end of the evening he really spiced up proceedings in a welcome way as he generously contributed to the success of the Live Auction and Art Auction fundraising results, before kindly making the Raffle Draw with Nóra Szegedi.

The Silent Auction presented by Zsuzsa Demcsák was also more successful than ever this year, equally so with the Art Auction which she handled beautifully too, and overall the event was praised by guests as a very enjoyable success:

“Well done to XpatLoop for organising a fantastic Bonfire Night party. It was a lovely event which raised a record amount for Hungarian children’s charities. A huge thanks to all those who contributed so generously!” HE Iain Lindsay OBE, HM Ambassador to Hungary.

Photos by Russell Skidmore for XpatLoop.com
After an extensive career in advertising - as an Art Director & Creative Director in London, Paris and Budapest for leading agencies - Russel transferred the skills and knowledge gained to the development of his own successful company covering wedding, event, PR and portrait photography: www.russell-skidmore-photography.co.uk

Click here to see a related gallery by Marcus Schirrmacher-Gavallér