"A civilisation that attaches greater importance to its memory than its future is in decline," said Pierre Boulez 30 years ago. Before agreeing with the " master" and going to leap off one of the Danube bridges, stop for a moment, preferably in Budapest, in the second half of October. For years the city has embraced contemporary arts at this time of year, in the frame of the BUDAPEST AUTUMN FESTIVAL [BAF]. The Municipality of Budapest launched the festival in 1992. From 2003 Balázs Kovalik took over the reins. The renewed BAF has preserved its comprehensive nature, but it has taken up a new, creative role, acting as a go-between joining artists and the public, opening new doors to younger people and in a successful plastic operation the graphic artist René Margit has given it a new image. Important productions of international note now schedule their world premieres to coincide with the BAF, and in the same way that in 2004 it succeeded in involving composing students of the Academy of Music in the city's arts scene, the BAF plans to turn its attention to students at the other arts universities. The BAF's credo could be summed up as - making the city alive with living art. And if Pierre Boulez comes this way in 10 years' time when he turns 90, we hope that he will nod in satisfaction that the BAF in 2015 has become prestigious festival of an increasingly vibrant civilisation.