On the inaugural weekend starting from April 3, we'll have appearances from Punnany Massif, Irie Maffia and Tosca amongst others, with John Mayall and Quimby visiting the Akvárium in the spring. Erzsébet Asset Management signed a 15-year rental agreement with the operators, the owners of which are all reputable domestic event promoters whose involvement guarantees that Budapest will be graced with a truly top-quality cultural center. Akvárium's strategic partners include Telekom and Petőfi Radio.

Club Akvárium intends to introduce domestic audiences to a previously unknown genre in the heart of Budapest. While the capital has seen a great number of popular entertainment venues opening their doors to the public, Club Akvárium will be a long-needed establishment for domestic and foreign guests alike.

Two halls, music bar, bistro and terrace

The Grand Hall is the Akvárium's new, subterranean concert hall. Thanks to the equipment of the hall, it can host popular music concerts, as well as business events, conferences and receptions at the highest level of quality. The operators invested in top quality sound and visual as well as projecting technologies and appropriate furnishings offering 600 seats in the 1500-capacity hall, with superb on-site catering facilities.

Domestic bands and promoters will surely grow fond of the Akvárium quickly, since the cultural scene of Budapest has been lacking such a well-equipped venue of this capacity. However, the operators are also making efforts to ensure that productions touring throughout Europe – most of which have previously avoided Budapest – stop by the Akvárium in the future. In the first month, John Mayall, the Austrian production Tosca, and Digitalism will all be making appearances at the Akvárium, with concerts from domestic bands Irie Maffia and Punnany Massif during the inaugural weekend starting from 3 April, while the spring listings include Quimby, Brains, Vad Fruttik and Péterfy Bori and her band, as well as one of the most exciting party projects of the capital, Random Trip, celebrating its anniversary at the club.

Ghymes will be a giving a free children's concert on the morning of 30 March, with a grand symphonic concert of Magashegyi Underground inaugurating the Grand Hall of the Akvárium. The recording of the concert will be broadcast on Petőfi Radio.

One level below, the 'Small Hall' offers the same range of technical features with a capacity for 700 standing or 300 seated guests. The hall will usually host concerts, domestic and international DJ performances three times a week with the not-so-thinly-veiled intention of making visitors think of the Akvárium as a place where there's always something exciting afoot. Right from the start, the smaller hall of the Akvárium will host important album launch events and party series which attract larger audiences.

The VOLT Music Bar is a 'club-in-a-club' open from Wednesday to Saturday offering nighttime events, comfortable booths, armchairs, and a capacity for 200 guests with domestic and international DJs providing the right atmosphere. Regular guests of the VOLT Bar will include Karányi, Classy Classics (TMX's new party series), MOVE (Polarize, Beta, Roocha), Clairvo, Anorganik, and Lank amongst many others. On Thursdays, the DJs of Petőfi radio will be spinning tunes at the VOLT Bar, with their sets featured on MR2. The goal of the operators is to regularly feature international stars at the club – for example, Sebastian Leger will be appearing on the inaugural weekend.

The special feature of the VOLT Music Bar are the walls, covered with original, signed stars from world-famous performers who previously appeared at the VOLT Festival: from Skrillex to The Prodigy, Faith No More to Paul Kalkbrenner.

As if the above-listed range of events wasn't enough, Club Akvárium will also be a regular venue for contemporary art, theater and other performances. According to the intentions of the operators, the weekends will feature children's events, frequent theatrical plays, as well as discussions and performances. On the occasion of the opening, 14 domestic, contemporary artists will present their works commissioned by the Akvárium entitled 'Budapest 2014', which can later be purchased on-site.

In the foyer of the Akvárium, under the artificial, glass-bottomed lake, the Aqua Bistro will be offering its patrons breakfast from the early morning hours, and daily offers later on, as well a select range of bistro cuisine. Apart from Heineken, offered on the previously popular terrace and throughout the club, guests will be pampered with a range of top quality domestic and international wines.

Innovative solutions

As well as providing quality events, the operators of the Akvárium feel it's important to offer innovative, 21st century solutions throughout the venue, from ticket purchase and entry to on-site comfort services. They found a great partner in this endeavor in the form of Telekom, which has joined the club as its strategic partner. Telekom has installed the latest land-line and mobile technology on site, providing visitors of the Akvárium with a 4G mobile network, amongst other things. Telekom thinks of the Akvárium as a natural venue for its musical events targeted at young audiences and is thus planning several individual and related events at the site.

In many cases, the events at the Akvárium can be viewed via mobile phones or at home while Petőfi Radio, the club's special media partner, will also be actively involved in the life of the Akvárium.

The live studio of the OpenAir web radio tested at last summer's festivals will also be located at the Akvárium, and thus the performers, musicians, DJs and artists can feature in the venue's “own” web radio.

Introducing the operators

The company operating Club Akvárium – which signed a 15-year contract with Erzsébet Asset Management Kft. – is the guarantee that the country will be graced with a truly successful and top quality cultural establishment.

The owners of the company include Péter Muraközy who, together with Adorján Tóth, is the main organizer of the Veszprém Street Music Festival, – with several decades worth of experience as an event and club promoter – the owner of Club Expresszó, as well as the program director of VOLT Festival and Balaton Sound.

Two years ago, at the request of Design Terminal, he began managing Club Akvárium until the renovation work began. Under Muraközy's management, Zsolt Gaspari and Róbert Maros also began operating the club in 2012. Maros and co. are also recognized figures in the domestic cultural and entertainment scene, since they were responsible for the full catering services of the major domestic festivals. After decades of working together, Zoltán Fülöp and Norbert Lobenwein joined the company operating Club Akvárium – which will be known as Akvárium Klub Kft. in the future – who were the founding chief promoters of the VOLT Festival, Balaton Sound and the Nagyon Balaton event series, as well as co-owners of Sziget Kft. and VOLT Produkció.

Mátyás Brunda was entrusted with running the club and the company, who up to recently has been working for VOLT Produkció for years.

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