Balaton 2015: even tastier burgers, even better festivals

Even tastier burgers. Balaton street food was nothing to be ashamed of in 2014, both the trendy and the traditional schools strutted their stuff. According to insider information, many of our favourites has surprises up their sleeves in terms of hamburgers and buffets. There are exciting news, which will be out before spring: we'll keep you updated.

Nyitott Balaton. Last year, we enjoyed a both spring and an autumn Nyitott Balaton event series for the first time.A cooperation of restaurants, wineries and local tourism organisations; hundreds of programs and innumerable guests - a wonderful rebuttal of the misconception that there was no life by Lake Balaton outside summer. Just like last year, Nyitott Balaton will return between 1 and 11 May and at the end of September. Just like last year,  We Love Balaton will participate in the event series in 2015 as well.

Balaton Method. Your favourite Balaton vibes and places in a feature film with music. The minds behind the musical short films, Kodály Method, director Bálint Szimler and cinematographer Marcell Rév rode into the sunset in 2014 and had Veronika Harcsa, Quimby, and Elefánt play music in typical locations, spiced with extraordinary ideas. The film premiers in Budapest on 6 March, but it will be introduced at several locations around the Balaton as well, in the summer.

New open-air cinema. Open-air cinemas close but some do re-open. This year, the line of open-air cinemas expands with an old acquaintance: the previously closed cinema re-opens in Balatonakali. Missing completely out on the open-air cinema season in Révfülöp or Fövenyes, or on south shore's Zamárdi or Aliga would be a shame anyway.

Nagyon Balaton. It started out in 2013 and it listed the best Balaton festivals in 2014, we don't know how far the Nagyon Balaton festival series can go this year, but we are in for surprises, that's for certain. For one, the Best New Festival of the European Festival Awards 2013, B.my.Lake will move from Balatonaliga, into the neighbourhood of Strand Festival, to the shores of Zamárdi.

Pegazus rises. It grew to be one of our favourite spots in 2014, despite the fact that it only opened at the end of summer, so we still don't know what it's fully capable of. Káli Basin hasn't only been about eating and drinking in a Provance/Tuscany ambiance, but also about thrilling cultural experiments and arts convos - already before that was cool. Pegazus strives to be a venue for that buzz, which we wholeheartedly support.

Pimp my Balatonfüred. Füred is a symbol of progress guided by strong hands. It is a place which sees public spaces renew, instantly fashionable restaurants and exhibitions open, and spectacular sports events executed each and every year. 2015 will be no different. There will be the Francophone Fest with a Robert Capa and a Picasso exhibition, FINA World Open Water Swimming Championships, and a new gastronomical festival in the autumn as well.

Balcsi Original. The end of last summer finally saw the début of a decent Balaton clothing brand. Balcsi Original makes it sure that we can perform our Instagram-sunset shenanigans in proper attire instead of Malibu/palm tree tees. Their cut-off beach shirts might not be practical in wintertime, but we can just say that Balcsi Original plans ahead. OK, they have hooded jumpers for cold weather, as illustrated above.

This year, you can drive down to Lake Balaton with county e-Vignettes instead of monthly e-Vignettes - both standing for road tolls paid. But do not forget to add up how many counties M7 crosses until reaching the Lake. Taking the train requires no vignettes. The south shore's railway lines have been under reconstruction since September 2014. Promises are such that the section to Szántód will be finished by the beginning of summer, so the Budapest-Balaton journey will take less time. There is more to the reconstruction than new rails: arriving to Balaton Sound or Strand Festival, be prepared to find everything switched up around the Zamárdi train station.