Balaton Sound
Known as “Szand” among Hungarian festivalgoers, Balaton Sound organized on the Balaton shore has been one of the most popular local festivals in the last few years. Passes are usually already sold out in spring, the party is always wild and cool vibes hang in the air. It is a major fancy-trendy summer fiesta, which has a heart-warming way of uniting disco crowds with the subscribers of underground electronica and the fans of bands that were once a hit only on the club and festival scene, but by now have definitely shed the alterock label. Now with an international award in the bag, Balaton Sound is a four-day event loud with the slapping and smacking sound of flip flops, where upper middle class kids dance the night away with hands in the air in front of the backdrop of the setting sun painting a golden bridge on the water, courtesy of Mother Nature.
Balaton Sound
11-14 July 2013, Zamárdi
Tickets: http://www.sziget.hu/balatonsound/jegy/jegyarak
Everything else: http://www.sziget.hu/balatonsound
Most notable performers: The Prodigy, Calvin Harris, Justice, Wu-Tang Clan
EFOTT
EFOTT is the same in the summer season as the myriad of university clubs, freshers’ balls, proms and thematic university days during the rest of the year: an archetypal, undeniably uni-related blowout. Fake wine is no longer the sole source of fuel here, but the festival is still far from cutting edge coolness, which is exactly what gives it its characteristic charm. It is a great opportunity to pick up girls, a bit all over the place, and seeing festivalgoers puking while standing up is not a rare sight here either, but it is nice to stagger side by side after the end of term and the exam period. It is also worth pointing out that EFOTT is not only the beloved destination of those in higher education, but also of the festival crowd in general. Probably no other festival in Hungary has such an eclectic line-up: folk dance-house, Kaukázus, Quimby, Faithless DJ set, stand-up comedy and everything else you can think of.
EFOTT
25-30 June 2013, Zánka
Tickets: http://www.efott.hu/jegyek/jegyarak
Everything else: http://www.efott.hu
Most notable performers: Quimby, Faithless DJ set, Vad Fruttik, Brains
Veszprém Street Music Festival
Loosely connected to the Balaton, the Veszprém Street Music Festival is truly about the joy of making music together. It is a playful urban hide-and-seek: unlike other festivals, this one has not been banished to a forest or car park on the edge of town. On the contrary, it takes place right in the centre of town, in the fancy downtown area of Veszprém. The best thing is that you can choose from much more than a handful of main stages. Wandering around exploring the town, you can chance upon handkerchief-size stages and meet unique strangers, too. A new feature of this year’s festival is that the line-up will include exciting unknown acts instead of well-known performers.
Veszprém Street Music Festival
24-27 July 2013
Information: www.utcazene.hu / www.facebook.com/utcazene
PAFE (Pannonia Festival)
If there is a classic Hungarian summertime rock festival, Pannonia Festival (aka PAFE) is definitely it, even though it is actually organized around Lent. The festival moved from its original location of the Cseri-parkerdő in Várpalota, and has taken place in Szántódpuszta, on the Balaton shore for the past two years. Of course, it is not the only such el classico, especially since it is one of the newer festivals. In any case, it has become a classic really fast, whatever that means. A main stage and smaller, covered venues, a campsite full of tents, food stands and bars, canvas sneakers and baseball caps, girls in denim hot pants, guys in cargo shorts – everything a decent multiple-day music event needs. The performers are the top representatives of the Hungarian live music scene of clubs and festivals, ranging from hip-hop to alterock, from metal to electronica. This year’s festival is already over, but there is always next year.
PAFE (Pannonia Festival)
16-19 May 2013
Information: http://www.pannoniafesztival.hu
Most notable performers: Rudimental, Dub Pistols, Irie Maffia, Kiscsillag, Tankcsapda
Open Road Festival
Summertime, motorbikes, freedom, the beach and the like – a slam dunk the organizers of the Open Road Festival in Alsóörs simply couldn’t pass up. The line-up of the northern shore event features most of the classic acts of Hungarian rock, so this festival is definitely not for hipsters or those always on the hunt for the latest delicacies in music, but for those who feel at home in the matrix of badass two-wheelers, hard rock, beer, tequila and leather pants this is an annual parade not to be missed.
Open Road, Alsóörs
5-9 June 2013
Tickets: http://www.openroadfest.hu/jegyvasarlas/
Everything else: http://www.openroadfest.hu
Most notable performers: Ten Years After, Uriah Heep, Edda, Hooligans, Magna Cum Laude, Ganxsta Zolee és a Kartel
Rock Beach
The Alsóörs event is not the only multiple-day festival where volume and distortion shatter the shore, and where headbanging, waving your hands in the air and pogoing are default forms of exercise. 2013 marks the debut of another classic rockfest by Lake Balaton. Rock Beach was started “with the unconcealed aim of bringing quality rock, metal and punk music to Lake Balaton between 26 and 28 July with an ambitious selection of Hungarian and foreign bands”. The line-up is a correct one in the default context, but nothing major: a kind of cross section of the Hungarian rock bloc with a few extras – from Fish to Akela, from Hollywoodoo to Junkies, from Anna & The Barbies to Depresszió, plus British progrocker Paradise Lost and American trash metal band Overkill.
Rock Beach Festival, Balatonszemes
26-28 July 2013
Information/Tickets: https://www.facebook.com/rockbeachfesztival
Most notable bands: Overkill, Paradise Lost, Depresszió, Junkies, Anna & The Barbies
The Valley of Arts
The Valley of Arts, the Mecca of the tie-dye loving, satchel toting youth and middle-aged will once again be organized this year. One must make the ritual pilgrimage here every year as an exodus from a post-post-industrial society of Zuckerberg and Gates. Jokes aside, the Valley is a cool place, full of cute and charming things, exciting programs, cultural and culinary treats with a personal vibe and human-scale events. This year’s event series will take place between 26 July and 5 August with Kapolcs being the main festival village and Monostorapáti, Taliándörögd and Vigántpetend also contributing to the Valley of Arts. Village yards will mainly serve as venues for family program as usual, Bea Palya and László Földes Hobó will be hosts again, and other venues will include jazz and literature themed gardens.
The Valley of Arts, Kapolcs, Monostorapáti, Taliándörögd, Vigántpetend
26 July - 5 August 2013
Information: www.muveszetekvolgye.hu
Nagyon Balaton
