Follow this link to see the 1st set of Top Summer Festivals in Hungary

8. Katlan

This electronic music festival held in a quarry in Tárnok, south-west of Budapest, attracts underground artists generating a truly euphoric atmosphere.

Top exotic names playing this year include Kollektiv Turmstrasse, Cosmijn and Andrey Pushkarev.

Dates: 13-15 July.
Location: Újhegyi út, 2461 Tárnok.

9. EFOTT Festival at Lake Velence

EFOTT is known locally as mega summer party for students held by a lake not too far from Budapest.

Besides concerts the organizers say they put great emphasis on sporting and cultural activities, lsuch as beach soccer and outdoor theatre, and also on local gastro delights.

Dates: 10 – 16 July.
Location:  2481 Velence, Evezős út 1.

10. Campus Festival

The biggest bash in Eastern Hungary’s pop-music calendar, Campus features over 200 shows at up to 40 venues in the leafy surroundings of the 'Big Forest'. 

Organized on an area of over twenty hectares in the vicinity of the Nagyerdei Stadium, it is not by accident that Campus has been called “one of Hungary’s most comfortable festivals”.

Dates: 19- 23 July.
Location: Nagyerdő, Debrecen.

11. Bass Paradise

Another new festival, this one focuses on the deep rhythms of drum & bass, dubstep and other such modern dance forms.

Sought-after international bass mad acts such as Zomboy, Culture Shock and Dirtyphonics all appear.

Dates: 20-22 July.
Location: Barba Negra, Szállitó utca 3, 1211 Budapest.

12. OZORA Festival at Dádpusta

This annual 'tribal gathering' is said to be one of the most influential psychedelic trance festivals in the world.

Started in 1999 to celebrate a solar eclipse, it has since grown into one of the most immersive festivals available anywhere. With six music stages and many unique features it offers a wide range of arts and musical programs in a dream like valley with a lake. 

Dates: 31 July - 6 August.
Location. Igar, Dádpuszta 7015.

13. Strand Festival at Zamárdi

This increasingly popular festival on the southern shore of Lake Balaton features mostly A-list performers from the Hungarian pop music scene.

Several international names like Luude and Purple Disco Machine will be making an appearance at this laidback event which offers a beach-focused end of summer festival feeling.

Dates: 24 - 26 August.
Location: Zamárdi 8621, Zöldfa utca, Kiss Ernő u.

14. Sziget Festival

The mother of all festivals in Hungary, inaugurated exactly 30 years ago, Sziget takes over half an island with many stages and art attractions.

Headlining this year are Billie Eilish, Sleaford Mods and Imagine Dragons - the vid above has more about all the performers.

Dates: 10-15 August.
Location: Óbudai-sziget, Budapest.

15. SZIN in Szeged

SZIN, which stands for Szegedi Ifjúsági Napok or 'Szeged Youth Days', has been providing late summer entertainment for party people in this university city for over 50 years.

This year there are over 200 programs planned, including concerts by all the big bands from the current local pop and rock scene.

Dates: 23 - 26 August
Location: Szeged 6726, Közép Kikötő sor.

+1 Veszprémfeszt

Alvaro Soler, Mariza, Anna Netrebko and Yusif Eyvazov, Joss Stone and Norah Jones will perform on the main stage of the 20th VeszprémFest set for July 12-15.

British soul singer Joss Stone will return to Veszprém on Saturday, July 15 and on the closing day, Sunday, July 16, American Norah Jones will give her first concert in Hungary.

Opera singer Andrea Rost will entertain her audiences with four evenings on different themes from Wednesday to Saturday in the garden of the Jesuit church.

Moreover, this summer more world stars - including Kraftwerk, Iggy Pop, Paul Kalkbrenner, Paolo Nutini, Steve Aoki, Papa Roach, and Hollywood Undead - will play in Veszprém at the new Gyárkert KultúrPark.

More than sixty foreign and Hungarian artists will perform at the new pop-up venue, one of the key summer events of the Veszprém-Balaton 2023 European Capital of Culture program.

Up until the first weekend of September, guests can enjoy concerts and DJs every week in this special city in western Hungary which won the UNESCO City of Music title in 2019.

Words by Peterjon Cresswell
Peterjon has been researching the byways of Budapest for 30 years, extending his expertise across Europe to produce guidebooks for Time Out and his own website liberoguide.com

Main Photo Credit: 
Sziget.hu/Rockstarphotographers

Follow this link to see the 1st set of Top Summer Festivals in Hungary