Mastercard Balaton Sound, Zamardi – Hungary

Once a year a small quiet town on the Balaton lake transforms in to a thermal wateringhole attracting the deadliest beasts around. Usually on the second Thursday of July, when temperatures rise as high as 34 degrees, Zamardi (known as a getaway for holiday homeowners) suddenly prepares for vast amounts of party-goers in the hundreds of thousands. This is Balaton Sound.

In the last 6 years this festival has significantly grown in every aspect, word of mouth and a clever little niche called ‘Aftermovie‘ has pushed up the population by  around 10,000 people every year. Records have showed that 40% of tickets were sold internationally and some revelers are traveling as far as from South America to attend this truly special event. This year we were looking at a record breaking 127,000 primed beautiful music lovers swimming, dancing and sticking it to the man for 4 whole days. Evolution seems to be the key here because what was a predominantly Hungarian line up in 2007 is now entertaining heavyweight artists from across the globe whilst remaining humble with up and coming artists also finding their way onto the roster.

So with all this in mind, the pressure was on to deliver. The mouth-watering line up had 4 day passes sold out by the end of march and with the addition of the scorching heat, travelers from near and far battled their way down here and gambled on what day passes were left. As the attendance increased and they were forced to open a 3rd camp site and a introduce another Day but even then there was people just sleeping by the lake, in front of holiday homes and pretty much any patch of grass within a 2 mile radius. The camps sites were strategically set up within walking distance to attend to the sun-kissed Palinka which many made the most of.

THE LAKE

Balaton lake is the biggest lake in central Europe and its party central for Hungarians, the surrounding towns Siőfok and Balatonfőldvar are all year round party destinations but for those 4 days Zamardi makes Siőfok look like a weekend away in Crewe. Temperatures took the water to around 20 degrees it felt like sitting in 229 square mile thermal bath and we all know what happens in those.

The many party floats act as dancing islands, surrounded by water, bikinis and minimal tech this was one of my favorite stages during the day. This was usually packed all day and did have  weight restrictions but due to people jumping from the floats into the lake it made for a carnival atmosphere as festival goers turned the process  a fun experience. Imagine a fairground ride but with better music.

Little Village

Balaton sound had way more to offer than just the music. Random containers dotted around the camp offered a whole range of goodies such as an array of food outlets, clothes stores,  Hungarian fröccs stands and surprisingly a massive gym. Personally I think its super vain to come to a music festival and work out, but never the less a quick pump to get the blood running before changing in to your swimming shorts….gets results! 

Stages and set up

The biggest set up of the Balaton sound series was stretched over 4 main stages,  of which the MasterCard stage was easily the biggest, entertaining special guests such as Afrojack, Avicci, Wu Tang Clan, Armin Van Buuren and The Prodigy.

From Avicci spraying out masses of blue ribbons across the stage at every drop to Steve Aoki throwing pink cake at the crowd, this was definitely party central. A little bit further down was the Arena, in this huge tent saw the likes of Alesso, Axwell, Justice and Hardwell take to the stage  to address the slightly darker ravers around 1am. By 3am the deep house lovers made there way to the Telekom( Tmobile) stage, where the real magic happened. Solomun delivered an emotional set which had everyone’s attention at all times. Seth Troxler and Jamie Jones also deserve an honorable mention for their flawless sets but what really grabbed our attention was Hungarian veteran Budai  as his deep and Progressive sounds had the people of Hungary in tears and Budai himself smiling from ear to ear. I think a sense of patriotism could be felt throughout and definitely send chills up the spine.

Conclusion

Being my first Balaton sound I didn’t really know what to expect, all I did know was the colossal line up had me weak at the knees in anticipation. The mixture between the biggest, most beautiful lake in central Europe and 30 degree heat has best festival 2013 written all over it. Battling against some heavyweight festivals this year such as Hideout and Echo in neighboring country Croatia and Sziget and B my lake locally. I can assure you that Balaton goes the extra mile to deliver what is to my mind one of the best festivals I’ve ever been to and I already can’t wait to check in for next years installment.