The 6 July season launch of Nagyon Balaton will be quite an event. Imagine two ferries floating in the middle of Lake Balaton with the stars shining above and the waves gently rocking the boats below, the sound of violins echoing in the night on the Tihany shore. Imagine sitting in these magical surroundings listening to your favourite songs, like “Star or swallow”, “It is passing now” or “Girls on the boys’ laps”, in the interpretation of Csík Zenekar.
The programme series, organized around the 20 August national holiday last year, will start at Pentecost this time, continuing through the summer and ending with the Siófok Fish Festival in October. A ferry each will set sail from the ports at Tihany and Szántód, and will meet in the middle of the lake to host the one of a kind event, the joint project of the Balaton Shipping Co. and VOLT Production. From 8:30pm the band will give a 90-minute concert, and as the ferries will be in motion the whole time, those on board will be able to enjoy a beautiful view while one of the most popular and most versatile folk groups in Hungary provide the accompaniment to the stunning experience.
Led by János Csík, the gold record-, Fonogram Award- and Kossuth Prize-winning band has played folk music since 1988. Having produced 10 albums, the Kecskemét-based group is an influential player of the folk scene, and has garnered much praise over the 25 years of its existence. Over time their music had grown beyond the framework of the dance houses they first started playing at, so they went on to seek new ways to put their art across by going on tour and playing at various festivals. Their album entitled Daloskönyv (Songbook) features pop songs reinterpreted with typical folk music elements. They have covered songs written by András Lovasi, but the Csík interpretation of Quimby’s It is passing now, probably even more popular than the original, needs no introduction either, having been the soundtrack for many to drinking pálinka in the early hours of late summer dawns.
