Hungarian festival guide: which are cancelled and which will be held in 2021?

The festival season of 2020 was like no other. With the exception of some smaller festivals under 500 participants towards the end of the season, almost all festivals were cancelled after the novel coronavirus has hit the world.

Thanks to the rapid development of the coronavirus vaccines, 2021 may be a bit better than 2020 was, but it will still not be as busy as 2019 and before. Szeretlekmagyarország have created a really detailed guide about this year’s festival season which can shed some light on this Summer’s music scene in Hungary. The government has not said anything about easing the measures concerning large events, but many hope that once Hungary vaccinates 5 million people, those measures will be eased.

Sziget, VOLT, Balaton Sound

Unfortunately, all of them are cancelled for the second time in a row. The latter two were already cancelled in March and Sziget was cancelled early May. Szeretlekmagyarország reports that the reasons mainly were uncertainties concerning travel, catering and the role of the immunity certificate. These uncertainties not only make inviting large names to such festivals hard, fans can also have a hard time reaching their destination. Complying with the current epidemiological measures and inspecting certificates and test results at such a large scale is also very demanding and the time seems to have been not enough.

• New two-storey bridge to be built in Budapest at the scene of Sziget Festival

Fishing on Orfű

The organisers have marked two possible dates for the festival and let their fans decide which would it be. The majority of fans decided that the later August date was more appropriate than the early and formerly usual June one.

As all of the performers have accepted the later date as well, the current program will not be changed and it is possible that the festival will be held, unless the fourth wave hits Hungary. If you already have a ticket, you have nothing to do, Szeretlekmagyarország reported.

EFOTT

According to current plans, this festival will be held, but at a different date than usual. If everything goes well, it will be held between the 11^th and 15^th of August, at the date of the Sziget festival. Although be prepared to comply with possible coronavirus measures, such as wearing masks.

Valley of Arts (Művészetek Völgye)

Szeretlekmagyarország reports that it will be held between the 23^rd of July and the 1^st of August. Natália Oszkó-Jakab, the director of the festival said that the size of the festival depends on vaccination drive. It will certainly not reach numbers like in 2019, but she said that even a small, 500 participant festival was a salvation.