The festival where it’s possible to just come by, hang out, enjoy the vibe, and then buy a ticket if you want to. But if you opt out, you can still enjoy yourself in an authentic country setting through Sunday, July 28, 2024.
No pressure
Hungary is known for its festivals: with a huge variety of locations, styles, and sizes, you can literally ‘festival your way’ through the summer, from May to September.
However, one of these events (also listed in the EU festival finder) pioneered a different setup. At the 10-day-long Valley of the Arts, instead of one contiguous ‘festival territory’, you have three participating villages, and most stages or programs are in the backyards of private residences. Besides these, there are larger stages and program spaces as well, where you will need to purchase a festival wristband to attend. But these are just the ‘official’ programs, connected by continuous shuttle bus services between the villages (Kapolcs, Taliándörögd, and Vigántpetend): free for everyone, with or without a wristband.
Freshly arrived to a ‘self-awereness drawing workshop’. (Image by BG.)
A myriad of creativity is also displayed for free in this one-of-a-kind setting, with vendors, food and drink stands, and a huge number of informal gatherings and campgrounds with campfires, where the festival vibe can be experienced. It’s a great way to get a no-strings-attached introduction to the local culture and subculture, but in a way, it’s also a good investment by the organizers. Although you can easily freeload your way through the whole thing, in the end, you will most likely develop a taste for enough of the performances, that you might become interested in purchasing tickets to see the shows up close. You can look at the detailed program schedule here.
Win-win
In the meantime, everybody’s happy. You can just come here, chill, eat, drink, and listen in (many of the performances can be heard and seen from outside the paid areas) without any commitment. You can enjoy some of the free areas and campfire-style gatherings, especially if you need a change of scenery from city life.
Campfire ‘open mic’ at Lőke Kúria. (Image by Dezső Kalinovszki)
Prices are also reasonable for a festival setting. One popular way to get meals, for example, is to visit certain private homes called ‘blue table cloth’ (kék abrosz) houses, where the locals share with their visitors whatever they cooked that day.
It’s also a true ‘all-arts’ and ‘all-ages’ gathering. You will find everything from rock, blues, folk, classical and electronic music, plus fine arts, creative — and interactive — workshops, not to mention various social themes and issues represented, even blood donation (where you can earn a day pass for your blood, mind you). Family-friendly as it is, there are entire generations that grew up over the past 33 years, since it started, spending a significant part of their summer vacations here.
This could be any audience at the main stage. (Image by BG)
Adding to the charm is the landscape, the rolling hills of the Balaton uplands, the vicinity of the lake itself, not to mention Veszprém, where Hungary’s most popular street music festival is also organized around this time, so you can combine your trip to visit both.
Image courtesy of the Valley of the Arts press services.
Practical info
There are direct buses from Budapest Népliget to Kapolcs, the central festival village. You can also take a train to Veszprém, and then a bus to Kapolcs. It is advised, however, that you purchase your tickets in advance, as they can be sold out if you just go to the station.
Image courtesy of the Valley of the Arts press services.
The Lutheran church of Taliándörögd, also a festival site, in projector-enhanced colors. (Photo by BG, no filters used)