festivals in hungary: cozy ones

just after the bigger ones, there are three quite similar happening in the three corners of the country. if you are around hop in. they are more familiar, people are more opened for new connections, beer is much cheeper, ticket prices are lower (a daily is around 20 euros). in the north-east corner, the capital of the famous wine region, Tokaj has the hegyalja festival. the main attractions are Katatonia, Juliette & The Licks, Adam Freeland and N.O.H.A.. four days, 9th-13th of July.
on the west side has another on the coast of the big lake Balaton, but it's on the north side in the youth camp of Zánka. the balatone advertises itself with RZA from the wu tang clan, beatsteaks and the real mckenzies. 24th-27th of July.
the third is in Szeged, next to the serbian-romanian border. szin - youth days of szeged - is the oldest music festival in hungary held since the '60s. this year, you can have joy with Morcheeba and several hungarians. at the end of the summer, 27th-30th of August.

and one more, a unique one. it's more an open air goa party, but for four days, 6th-10th of August. the ozora located in the middle of the country, in a hilly region, just in the nature.

not too late for festivals

although, there's one within a week. yeek, that means it's really summertime. you don't need to stuck in 36 celsius in the city. i mean, you have to come here to see the pool above the Gödör club and drink some bottles of beer in the park or just to see the panorama from the fishermen's bastion. but, maybe, in the summertime you would prefer the festivals. let me introduce some.
the big ones.
first of all, the sziget at the beginning of august (12-18). the biggest name from hungary in this scene. it's really a huge happening on an island, not very far from the downtown of budapest. so you can even stay in a tent or in a hostel in the city. on last.fm, you can see a quite long list with the performing artists. but the festival last for six (plus two pre) days.


if you buy the tickets (online) a daily one is 32 euros, the weekly ones are for 120 (without camping) and 150 euros. cheaper than roskilde, hm?


second is volt (2-5 july !). right next to austria, and not very far from bratislava. so you can use those airports and probably it's way easier to get an international ticket to those capitals. and the lineup: manu chao, the offspring, cypress hill, exploited. four days for 60 euros if you buy it in advance (70 at place). daily ticket is 24 (28) euros.

the electronic one is the balaton sound (10-13 july) with massive attack, fatboy slim, goldfrapp and many hungarians, of course. the place is just next to the lake balaton, you can swim in it. best for the hot summertime with bit of hangover. tickets for 28 (36) euros and passes for 70 (85) euros.

there'll be a next post with the cozy, smaller fests. i just need some sleep now. cheers.

night of museums

actully we don't have any live and traditional event or festival around summer solstice. yes, it's the day of St. John, but nothing extraordinary like in the mediterranean or scandinavian area.
some years back a great feast is organized every 23th of June. most of the museums open its gates at 6 pm and hold special performances, guidances, concertes, screenings till dawn. the official page is only in hungarian, so let me help you a bit.
you can reach some english program on the homepage of the museum. eg the national museum.
price of the ticket is 1 200 HUF (4,8 euros) . can be bought in the museums and also in BKV (transport co.) ticket offices. it is valid for all the museums and also for the bus connection (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th) between them. they go in every 10 mins.

Athe Sam!

here we are! this is the meaning of the title, and this is the title of next week's gypsy art festival (4th-10th of june). the place is gödör klub (club 'hole') in the very center, erzsébet tér (just next to deák tér, where all the metro lines meet; map).


there will be many concerts, exhibitions, some cinema and theater during the week. the aim of the festival is not just entertaining, but to show everyone how talented they are.
my personal tip is váradi roma café (tuesday) with a special fusion of pop, jazz, funky and - of course - gypsy music; the number one szakcsi új magyar gypsy jazz (wednesday) with the world-famous szakcsi lakatos béla, and parno graszt (friday). i don't know them, but i'm really excited about their concert: brasilia essenthia from brasil! they play on saturday. these are just some names from the programme (unfortunately it's in hungarian, but just go to gödör klub any time during the week after 6 pm), but i'm sure that all of them will be an excellent show - from jazz to hip-hop.
the entry is free, the location is very nice in my favourite square with a lot of green and fountains, and if the weather is good, the concerts will be open-air until 10 pm.

indian film festival

tired in travelling? go in to the cinema. you can just catch the 4th indian film festival (June 1st-June 13th) in the weeny Örökmozgó (perpetual-motion machine) cinema just under the trees of the ringroad. they have pretty good at filmfests. this one is organized by the Indian Embassy and the Hungarian National Film Archive in the occasion of the 60th anniversary of India's independence. you can see movies made from 1946 to 2003 (many of them with english dialogue or subtitles).
what we found with english subtitles:
Pather Panchali (Song of the Road) (1955), 3rd of june, sunday, 18:30
Konikar Ramdhenu (Ride on the Rainbow) (2003), 3rd of june, sunday, 20:30Antareen (The Confined) (1993), 5th of june, tuesday, 20:30
Apur Sansar (The World of Apu) (1959), 6th of june, wednesday, 18:30
Pyaasa (Eternal Thirst) (1957), 8th of june, friday, 19:00
1942: A Love Story (1994), 9th of june, saturday, 16:30
Komal Gandhar (A Soft Note on a Sharp Scale) (1961), 9th of june, saturday, 20:00
Kannathil muthamittal (A Peck on the Cheek) (2002), 10th of june, sunday, 20:00
Ganashatru (An Enemy of the People) (1989), 13th of june, wednesday, 20:30

and two with french subtitles:
Amma Ariyan (Report to Mother) (1986), 6th of june, wednesday, 20:30
Mukha Mukham (Face to Face) (1984), 12th of june, tuesday, 20:30

the tickets cost 500-800 Ft (2-3 eur). the address is Erzsébet krt. 39 (map).