Budapest Bonfire Bash, Party For Charity, 4 Nov 2013

Thanks to around 200 guests of XpatLoop nearly HUF 1 million was collected to support the Csodalámpa Foundation at this feel-good event on a rainy Monday evening.

Expats and cosmopolitan locals joined together to enjoy an international and Hungarian selection of refreshments, a live auction and plenty of raffle prizes, plus entertainment from Kasai, The Music Sommelier, and headliners The Carbonfools - the hottest pop band in Hungary right now. The party happen to be the anniversary celebration of XpatLoop.com, and so a few birthday surprises like ‘Laser fireworks’, plus a 'Virtual Bonfire', all added up to make this a worthwhile social networking event for charity. See Who Was There Below

Guest of Honour HMA Jonathan Knott, British Ambassador to Hungary, made a great speech and stayed around for drinks, food, and joined-in the party mood while watching the entertainment. He was in good company together with partners and readers of XpatLoop.com, like Adam Goodman, film producer, and Adam Lebor, author and journalist, to mention just two names starting with ‘A’.

Naturally lots of internationally-minded Hungarians participated, and gave generously, including TV celebs and senior members of the business community, like Andrea Jádi-Németh who well represented the charity during the live auction. Honourable main sponsors this year were FirstMed.hu, Curry House, InterContinental Budapest, and while the hotel made everyone feel very comfortable the event MC Chris Russell introduced Dennis Diokno of FirstMed, and then Zulkarnain Saer Khan of Curry House, to say a few warm words of welcome. Éva Patzauer, Director of the Csodalámpa Foundation, was on hand to say thanks and take good care of cash donations from party guests. Stephen Linfitt of XpatLoop.com expressed gratitude to everyone involved in making the event a success for charity, all those highlighted above were shown appreciation on the event presentation which was shown around the room all night, along with the following key event supporters: Bortarsasag.hu, Brodyhouse.com, Goldlaser.hu, KFP - Five Star Conference Service, ProHome. Live Auction & Raffle Prize Sponsors Included:

Catherine Dickens's Vineyard Cottages, PrimeCuts.hu, Hooters Budapest, Magnolia Day Spa, The Caledonia Pub, Whiskynet.hu, Nokia Hungary, Trattoria Toscana, ExpatShop.hu, CinemaCity, Arriba Taqueria, Body Balance, Sony, Sziget - Fridge Festival, In Room Spa, Yellow Zebra, and many more. 'Bonfire Party' Refreshments: Hungarian fine wine from Tokaj - Szent Tamás, Eger - Attila Wine, Mátra - Losonci , Balaton Szent-György Hegy - Szászi, plus an international selection of German, Austrian and Piemontese wines all thanks to FineWines Vinothek. Beer Tasting: Becketts Irish Pub, Hooters Budapest. Whisky Tasting: Whiskynet.hu. Coffee: Amora.hu. Water from Clearwater, and Tea Tasting: Darjeeling Tea House While the focus of the event was on networking rather than eating, food was provided thanks to:
* Mr Masala served up a Great British dish of chicken curry & rice + a vegetarian option,
* Zsofia River Cruises kindly provided Hungarian soup and sandwiches,
* Planet Sushi presented a range of truly exciting sushi makis,
* PapirTigris offered every guest a fortune cookie to make it a lucky evening for all.

Photos by Russell Skidmore and Marcus Schirrmacher-Gavaller for XpatLoop
(plus just a few by Nokia using the new Lumia smartphone)