To support their 2017 concerts, the General Assembly of Budapest voted to give the Budapest Festival Orchestra 120 million HUF. This marks a considerable decrease since 2013, when the sum was 270 million. The management of the BFO is politely asking the Assembly to restore the Festival Orchestra’s depleted subsidies. Although the Ministry of Human Capacities has increased their assistance to the orchestra by 40 million HUF, it still leaves the Festival Orchestra 100 million HUF short for this current year. In November 2016, the Budapest Festival Orchestra submitted a detailed proposal to the Budapest Executive, entitled Budapest – capital of Music. Aside from detailing our numerous concerts, the document included free educational and social projects for the inhabitants of Budapest, from children to the elderly. The orchestra requested 260 million HUF in support to enable them to deliver this plan. The management of the BFO is willing to do all they can to avoid having to cancel concerts, educational programmes or social projects. The BFO wants to keep the Dancing on the Square project alive, this year almost 600 underprivileged youngsters are expecting to assemble in Heroes’ Square, as well as the Bridging Europe Festival which attracts global attention. Furthermore, the BFO wishes to carry on with its successful concerts for children on the autistic spectrum and for the elderly, which provide memorable experiences for all those present. To this end, the BFO is staging a fund-raising concert on 8 May 2017 at the Budapest Congress Center, called Concert for Budapest. There we will be asking the citizens of Budapest, the city’s leaders and the government of Hungary to donate in support of the Budapest – Capital of Music Programme.