“This is no mass festival”

WLB: The Paloznak Jazz and Wine Picnic will take place for the third time this year. What has the event grown out of, what was the original idea?

Szabolcs Homola: It is a classic story really. We were sitting around, drinking wine in the enoteca of the Homola Winery in the yard of the Paloznak Tájház, probably one of the loveliest tájház yards of the Balaton, it was all very nice, but there was something missing: music. We exchanged a look and started thinking about what genre would fit the setting best. It suddenly hit us: why don’t we organize a small jazz event? We thought about it some more and came up with the name “picnic”. We consulted the Mayor’s Office to see what they thought about it, and even though they looked at us a bit weird at the beginning, we had their full support in everything, they lent us the venue free of charge and gave us a stage as well. For me it was important from the get-go that the event should have a charity aspect: the Snétberger Music Talent Centre is a stone’s throw away in Felsőörs, and Snétberger Feri played at my 40th birthday. We combined business with pleasure, we contacted them, and this is how the students of the centre, together with Eszter Váci’s quartet, became the performers of the first picnic. We only advertised the event locally, yet four to five hundred people showed up, and we had a great party. During the day we organized children’s programmes, and in the evening the paintings the kids had made were projected onto the houses of the village by some light painters we invited for this purpose. Paloznak looked like a wonderland.

WLB: Did you know immediately that there was going to be a second time?

Szabolcs Homola: Those who know me also know that I don’t like to do anything half-heartedly. Everyone had such a great time, so right away I started contemplating options for developing the original idea. Last year we put on a two-day event on the Tájház stage: Ferenc Snétberger played on Friday, followed by the Judie Jay Quartet and Juli Fábián with Zoohacker on Saturday. Snétberger’s students also took the stage and we collected some funds for the Talent Centre as well. A thousand people came on Saturday, which shows how much of a success the picnic was. We made new plans: this year we are going to have two stages, two venues, fifteen concerts and two international performers. I personally think that, along with Mezzoforte and De Phazz, the cream of the Hungarian jazz world will grace the stage in Paloznak, including BinJip, Peet Project, Kátya Tompos, the Smárton trió and Mrs Columbo.

WLB: How is the Jazz Picnic different from a similar Balaton event?

Szabolcs Homola: This is no mass festival. It is different because those who come here do not feel like they are at a festival. You walk around with a glass of wine, listening to great music. We are trying to make sure that we offer quality food made from local ingredients instead of the classic festival dishes. We want to create a real picnic atmosphere by giving out reed mats and picnic baskets by the main stage, which is going to be constructed on the hillside between Paloznak and Lovas, a couple hundred metres from the tájház yard. A big surprise this year will be a small model village that we will set up, but you will have to wait and see how it is going to be done.

WLB: What kind of gastronomic treats do you have in store?

Szabolcs Homola: We want to provide top-quality food prepared from the best ingredients. Chef Lajos Takács will set up a gastro area near the Homola Winery stage, where he will serve savoury snacks to go with the wine. At the other venue visitors can sample the products of an artisan cheese maker, the sandwiches of a local ham producer, the goodies prepared on the salmon smoker and even the Homola burger, but you will not want to miss the artisan desserts and ice cream or the various types of home-brewed coffee either.

WLB: What does the uniqueness of the landscape add to the festival?

Szabolcs Homola: We are practically in the village, which guarantees a one-of-a-kind atmosphere in itself. The winery is located in the main square of Paloznak, at the bottom of a church hill – the different lights will transform the streets in a way that people can feel like they are walking around in a wonderland. The programmes that will take place on the hillside will be organized in the same vein, but they will be a bit more elaborate – this year we expect around five to six thousand people, so the tájház yard would not have worked.

WLB: You mentioned earlier that your aim is to turn Paloznak into a treasure box of culture.

Szabolcs Homola: Yes, and it is not by accident that we picked this direction: we want to inject some more colour into what Paloznak has to offer in terms of culture and gastronomy. We are also planning on opening a restaurant in Akác next year that is professionally run, but still fun and casual, and a reading nook in cooperation with the local library, where everyone could settle down with a free book whenever they feel like it. An exhibition space has already been opened across the road from the restaurant, showing that the village is interested in building a gastro-cult community with us in the shadow of Füred.

WLB: Will Homola wines be the only vintages on offer at the festival?

Szabolcs Homola: Yes. We are very proud to say that, apart from minimal state funding, the Jazz Picnic is practically the only festival in Hungary that operates under its own steam.

WLB: Which wine would you recommend to picnic participants?

Szabolcs Homola: It depends on the music and the mood the different kinds of music will put me in. We have two wine series, the 100% products and the Homola barrelled wines. Our most well known wine is probably the 100% Balaton, which is the genuine Balaton feeling bottled up for you. So I would drink a glass of 100% Balaton while sitting on the hillside, listening to some smooth jazz, but a fröccs made from the 100% Riesling would be perfect for me, too. Finally, I would round off the day with a glass of Homola Blaufränkisch.