The Campus Festival will be held for the 15th time between the 19th and 23rd of July. In the anniversary year, festivalgoers can expect a higher quality and more exciting selection of programs than ever before. In addition to the extremely popular performers, hip-hop and, in a unique way, rock and metal music will be given a separate independent stage, what is more, many musical delicacies and young talents will also be featured at the festival with the most ambitious music offer. Those interested in arts other than music will not be bored either, with a total of more than four hundred programs on offer.
After twelve years, Marcus Füreder, aka Parov Stelar, returns to the Great Forest in Debrecen. The leading pioneer of the ‘electro swing’ style, which mixes the jazz sound of the 1920s with electronic music, will come to the Campus Festival with his band on the 21st of July. The foreign career of the best-known artist in Austria started in Hungary, and since then he has been coming every year. Moreover, it is not the first time he has visited Debrecen, he was already a performer on the main stage of the festival in 2011. The German star DJ and producer, Robin Schulz, as well as the French chanson, jazz, and French diva, ZAZ, will also strengthen this year’s festival. Both performers are chart-toppers, and their hits are followed and listened to by millions worldwide. Schulz will arrive in Debrecen on the 20th of July, ZAZ on the 22nd of July. André Tanneberger, better known by his name: ATB, will perform on the Campus, the German DJ phenomenon that has been among the elite of the international electronic music scene since the 90s. One of the craziest rappers is coming, the Estonian Tommy Cash, Kerala Dust from England, who combines the atmosphere of psychedelic rock, blues, and techno, and the dance diva Minelli, who immediately reached the international dance charts in 2021 with her hit ‘Rampampam’. The returning domestic festival favorites – Tankcsapda, Majka, Bagossy Brothers Company, Halott Pénz, ByeAlex and Slepp, 30Y, Road, etc. – everyone knows, new titans have appeared in the last few years – e.g., Azahriah, Carson Coma, Dzsudló, Elefánt, Krúbi, etc. – it is worth paying attention even more than before. In accordance with the traditions of the Campus, it once again gives space to the many exciting up-and-coming talents of the Hungarian light music scene.
NOT JUST MUSIC
This year, in a manner worthy of the jubilee, there will be a more serious art program than ever before at the Campus Festival. At the Performance Square, you can see dance and movement arts and action theater performances, with the participation of, among others, the Forte Társulat, the Lobotomia Collective, and the Modern Tánc-Játék Studio. The usual, spectacular street theater parade (Ars Sol Luna) will be supplemented with new attractions this year, several special vehicles, giant puppets, artists, and stuntmen will accompany the procession. The guest will be aerial and contemporary dancer Ariadna Vendelova from Slovakia, who will give a unique show hanging in the air every night. This year, the festival area will be decorated with several artistic light installations and spatial objects.
It will be worth arriving very early to explore these programs. Active recreation awaits festivalgoers. The Civil Falu is one of the most traditional program locations on Campus. About 50 civil organizations and institutions present their activities, so those interested can learn about important social issues. One of Hungary’s largest playhouses is set up in the same place: in the Campus Kid & Art Zone, hundreds of interactive games, attractions, and children’s programs await everyone from the youngest to the oldest, much to the delight of visiting families. In the Agora of the Civil Falu, you can meet live podcast discussions, a wind and zither band, a choir flash mob, a dance hall, as well as television legends such as Előd Juhász, Tibor Dévényi, Judit Endrei, János Horvát, József F. Kaplár, and János Egri.
QUALIFIED FESTIVAL
The festival has gained a stronger cultural color every year, which is why it received international recognition in 2017, the most serious European rating organization, EFFE (Europe for Festivals, Festivals for Europe), gave the event the highest-level rating. Based on its statistics and results, the Campus Festival was included in the 5 most visited Hungarian light music festivals, it was included in the top list of Google search trends, in the “Events of the Year” category.
The jubilee event, starting on July 19, 2023, will await visitors for four nights in a forest environment, at the country’s best-equipped and most shaded festival location. The Campus Festival is one of Hungary’s largest summer cultural events, which was visited by 27,000 people when it started, and 116,000 people last year.
Every year, the success of the Campus Festival is greatly strengthened by the city’s location and features. The surroundings of the Great Forest Stadium and the Great Forest Water Tower are unparalleled in the Hungarian festival market. Based on the visitors’ feedback and public opinion polls repeated year after year, in addition to the colorful program offer, the high-quality design of the venue and the safe environment in the Great Forest are at the top of the satisfaction indicators.
KEEP ON EGYETEM TÉR: FOCUS ON SECONDARY SCHOOLS
In addition to the family-friendly nature of the Hungarian festival offer, the Campus Festival is also unique due to the presence of the University of Debrecen. For the institution, in addition to popularizing science, the event is also important for reaching future university students and building relationships.
The University of Debrecen welcomes festivalgoers to this year’s Campus Festival with a renewed image, 10 thematic locations, an escape room, and a Chill Zone. At the 2023 event, the university will present its new university preparatory program for high school students, KEEP, with which the institution addresses those who are about to continue their education. Accordingly, in this year’s festival program, those interested can primarily gain experience with interactive games and gain useful and interesting information about university life.
At the Egyetem Tér (University Square), everything is cooled with liquid nitrogen, among other things. The Earth and the Solar System are presented through VR glasses. Festivalgoers can decipher the messages exchanged between Roman legions and German submarines, find out if Freud or Billie Eilish lives in them, and choose from the favorite books of Campus Festival performers.
At the medical and health stands, a simple sample will reveal what bacteria live on the mobile phone. After a dermatological consultation, those interested can prepare a moisturizing cream, body lotion, scrub, and various facial tonics suitable for their skin type, which they can take home.
The university stage offers a colorful program where, among other things, internet, and school bullying, as well as the legal consequences of drug and alcohol consumption, will be discussed. Among the guests are toxicologist Gábor Zacher, an emergency physician, and agricultural YouTuber Ádám Lenner, here we can meet the Síkideg podcast of Márkó and Barna, as well as the stand-up comedians of the Dumaszínház. János Karácsony, Gergő Szakács, Márk Járai, Henri Gonzo, Juci Németh and Hunor G. Szabó, Zsuzsi Kollányi, and the Tóth Vera Quartet will also perform on the stage, dressed in a campfire atmosphere for the evening.
What’s new this year is that youngsters will receive stamps for completing playful tasks, and after collecting three, they can be guests of the Chill Zone on Egyetem Tér for a drink, where they can enjoy one of the trendy drinks of the summer, the Mimóza cocktail and small spritz made of dry white wine, as well as elderberry, mint, and lavender syrup will also be offered for the duly completed textbook.
HUNGARY’S BEST FEMALE VOICES IN DEBRECEN
The outstanding attraction of the festival is the colorful palette of Hungarian performers. At this year’s event, female energy will be raging on the stages, so unforgettable concert experiences are guaranteed.
At this year’s Campus Festival, such fantastic female performers as Agata Angilella (Damara), aZorka, Klárí Balázs, Bíborka Bocskor (Magashegyi Underground), Rita Csányi (The Anahit), Fruzsi Erdős, I am Soyuz, Dorka Jéger, Zsuzsi Kollányi, Viki Lábas (Margaret Island), Dorci Major & Janka Végh (Pandóra Projekt), Bogi Nagy, Juci Németh, Mary Nótár, Ohnody, Paulina, Bori Péterfy, Noé Saya, Barbi Schoblocher (Blahalouisiana), Sisi, Solére, Panka Szczuka (Flanger Kids), Lotti Tímári (Nanana) and Vera Tóth.
The varied music palette guarantees that everyone will find a program that suits their taste and enjoy the impressive performances of Hungary’s best female voices.
The Thursday day of the festival and at the same time the METAL-SHEET Main Stage will be opened by the band Margaret Island with Viki Lábas in the lead. Singer-songwriter Viki graduated from the University of Szeged as an ethnologist. At first, classical music played a big role in his life, as he played the clarinet for 14 years, then came folk music and high school “rock bands”, thanks to which he met 2013 the other two founding members of Margaret Island, Bálint Füstös and Kristóf Törőcsik. The band has already received several recognitions from both the professional and the public side, so it can boast several gold records and is also the owner of the Fonogram Award. In addition, in 2017, Viki became the winner of the “Female Performer of the Year” award at the Petőfi Music Awards.
Another exceptional talent who will take the stage on the Saturday of the Campus Festival in Debrecen is Barbi Schoblocher, the singer of Blahalouisiana. Barbi consciously prepared for singing from the age of 12 and became really known for her participation in the band. The jazz department in Székesfehérvár brought her together with the members of the former band Jacked, who were looking for a female singer for their new group, and since 2012 they have been making music together under the name Blahalouisiana. She has been the female engine of the band ever since. Most of the time, she appears on stage in amazingly unique clothes and hats, she loves special pieces. He likes to participate in all creative processes in the life of the band.
The Hungarian singer Balázs Klári, born in Debrecen and winner of the Phonogram award, is also a performer at the festival. The eternal classic duo of György Korda and Klári Balázs will also be present. Klári’s singing career began in 1970 and now she has more than 5 decades of career behind her. The audience can see the duo on the 22nd of June at the BMW Stage.
ROCK LEGENDS AND LEGENDARY BANDS ON CAMPUS
The fifteenth Campus Festival will host emerging talents, hip-hop, trap, and underground electronic music and, as the only major festival in the country, a stand-alone rock-metal stage will rumble with the sound of electric guitars.
The organizers also invited the great legends of domestic rock music to Debrecen so that the new generation can also get to know the great classics. During the four days, among others, the supergroup Godfather led by Tibor Tátrai, the Hungarian guitar king, will perform. Tibusz played guitar in such legendary bands as Tűzkerék, Syrius, Mini, the legendary band of Ádám Török, who passed away this year, or the former Fekete Bárány festival performer, Hobo Blues Band.
János Bródy, alias Tini, one of the greatest musicians of the Hungarian beat era, a pillar member of the former band Illés, composer, and lyricist, will also perform. During his career, he composed the lyrics of nearly 800 songs and the music of 200 songs. The singer-guitarist of one of the most influential bands of Hungarian rock music, János Karácsony, will also come to the jubilee festival so that the legendary steam locomotive will roll onto the stage and the LGT hits will be played.
The legendary Fekete Bárány festival will not only be summoned by Tibor Tátrai, because one of the main performers of the former event, Beatrice, will be here, who are expected to bring all their classic hits, as well as Gyula Bill Deák, the king of the Hungarian blues. There will be another legendary figure of blues music, the singer of Karthago and East, Tamás Takats.
One of the cult bands of dark music, F.O. System evokes the old underground concerts in Fekete Lyuk, and VHK, i.e., Vágtázó Halottkémek, will hold an ethno punk, shaman punk, and magical folk music ritual that spans styles. The iconic figure of alternative music, frontman, and lyricist of URH and Kontroll Group, Péter Sziámi Müller, and his friends will present the heyday of Hungarian underground music.
Endre Paksi and the legendary band Ossian bring their studded heavy metal foundations to the delight of rock fans.
Expand your musical palette at the Campus Festival! We present young, up-and-coming talents.
The festival continues its tradition and once again gives space to the most exciting up-and-coming talents of the Hungarian light music scene, from rock music, through melodic ballads, to hip-hop and soul genres. It’s time to get to know the first-time festival favorites.
Dorottya Laczkfi or aZorka, who started her second festival season in recent weeks, arrives in Debrecen with poetic texts and melancholic and catchy melodies. The duo of Janka Végh and Dorci Major, Pandóra Projekt, also produces similarly text-centric songs, but their acoustic ballads are replaced by folk, indie, and pop. Singer-songwriter-producer Saya Noé, who is also popular on Twitch, is already well known to the Campus audience, as a recurring guest she will perform her electropop hits such as lodine, Under The River, or the new song Pinky Promise. Rapper Sisi has already proven herself at Keret Kikeltető this year, she swept the entire field off the stage with her song Yalla. The Anahit, led by TikTok star Rita Csányi, also comes with lighter, but more expressive songs than her, who acquired the repertoire of their album Válságpop on social media under the guidance of their enthusiastic audience. The Damara band also boasts a female front. The five-member group led by Agata Angilella recently released their second album, Fény és Boogie, in the sound of pop music from the 60s and 70s.
The whole country got to know Bogit Nagy when she was a little girl, from numerous talent shows, but she will appear on the Campus stage as an adult woman. Maluridé, an electronic formation formed by Zazie Farkas Virág and Júlia Viszkeleti, complete with keyboards by Milán Hodován, is also arriving. Bozoky Lili, also known as I Am Soyuz, who lives in Sweden but often visits home, presents her solo project with a space-pop theme.
For lovers of electronic girl music, the Made In Debrecen stage also has surprises in store for the concerts of Hakawai and iRAWEn. The winners of the 2022 Fülesbagoly Tehetségkutató in Debrecen, A Flirt band, will fill the Great Forest with pop music with singer Eszter Szarka. The remaining guys from Quiet Kid & The Speakers are sung by Lotti Tímár in the band NANANA accompanied by a post-punk, indie-rock, psychedelic sound. Similarly, the teenage band Raklap from Sepsiszentgyörgy also plays post-punk, mixed with some Székely tradition with Dorka Mihály on the front line. The local trio Water Signs, led by Vigóca Sebestyén, presented themselves to the Debrecen audience for the first time last year. Wolfolks’ songs are inspired by their shared passion for nature. Their concerts offer everything from peaceful harmonies that soothe the “oriental” soul to self-indulgent dancing and edgy music, so fans of a wide range of genres are welcome at the Campus. Rounding out our girl’s line-up is the bedroom-pop duo Flanger Kids, who has had an amazing career over the past three years.
Let’s start the list of male performers with the Budapest rapper Co Lee, whose first solo album in Hungarian, Cirque de l’homme, which debuted in January, has already reached more than 2 million streams on Spotify. Similar successes can await Young B!te, a rapper a few years younger than him on Soundcloud, who masterfully uses humanities rhymes and references. We can thank the Hundred Sins producer-DJ guy for such hits as Beton.Hofi’s Bagira. This year, the masked producer is coming to Campus with a full band, live strings, and collaborators. Also working together with Hundred Sins and Co Lee was Bognár Bandi, or Kolibri, who as a graphic designer turned lyricist-songwriter could sing the entire festival area with just one string of guitar with his special organ. Kristóf Tóth’s name, or kristoaf, may sound familiar because his joint song with Lil Frak called Melodráma was one of the hottest domestic tracks of last year. Kristoaf’s sound is becoming more self-assured and rockier with each release. It will also be worth checking out the concert of Bongor, i.e., Berta Csongor, actor-director-rapper, who has been on stage with Krúbi since his debut in 2017. The team of talent scouts is strengthened by Mehringer and his band, but the guys traveling in pop-punk-rock work hard to dispel all TV stereotypes. Ben T Kadar made his debut as a solo artist in 2020, and since then he has not been able to get away with his demanding, dark electro-alternative hip-hop and trap tracks.
Source: Hajdupress
