The Campus Festival, one of Hungary’s biggest light music and cultural events that has been around for more than a decade and a half, will start on July 24 at the familiar location, around the Nagyerdei Stadium. This time, the most popular Hungarian performers will take the stage at the festival, from Azahriah to Majka, from Margaret Island to Tankcsapda, but also up-and-coming young talents will be presented, and many international stars will also arrive, including Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, Martin Solveig, Mando Diao, Danko Jones, Gayle, Queen Omega and Rita Ora.
EACH AUDIENCE LAYER HAS ITS OWN EXPERIENCE
The event, which will start on July 24, 2024, awaits visitors again for four nights in a unique forest environment, at a modernly equipped five-star festival venue. The Campus is now one of Hungary’s largest summer cultural events, and as the largest festival aimed at a Hungarian audience, it closed the 2023 anniversary event with a sold-out day and a total of about 118,000 visitors over the four days. The audience’s interest is unbroken this year as well, the latest information is that the number of passes that can be sold in advance has become limited, but it is also worth buying the day tickets in advance, after the moment came a year ago when the full sign had to be displayed at the entrance of the festival.
In addition to the returning domestic festival favorites – Azahriah, Majka, Tankcsapda, Rúzsa Magdolna, ByeAlex and Slepp, Ivan and the Parazol, Beton.Hofi, etc., etc. – it is worth paying more attention than ever to the many exciting up-and-coming talents of the Hungarian light music scene. Along with the concerts of the prominent headliners, an important feature of the Campus is that it accommodates almost the entire spectrum of the domestic music scene, the Campus accommodates avant-garde metal as well as doomfolk, roots reggae, an electronic music project mixing shoegaze, ambient and cinematic elements, online after a long hiatus, a cult Hungarian hardcore band recently re-formed. During the 4 days, 21 program venues will be operating, where a total of 295 musical performers can be seen, of which 65 are productions connected to Debrecen.
The number of foreign speakers increased this year. There will be 16 international performers from 13 different countries at the festival, including big names such as Kosovo-born pop diva Rita Ora, the best-known export of the Swedish indie-rock scene, Mando Diao, who has been chosen as one of the best DJs in the world several times, as a music producer , Martin Solveig, who is also active as a songwriter and radio presenter, or the Belgian DJ duo Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, celebrated both by the industry and the public. And the Trinidadian dancehall / roots reggae singer Queen Omega will be here with her band, the electronic music line Rival Consoles, who is an extremely innovative electronic music producer from England – it’s not really typical to see performers like her at this type of festival.
It is a special pleasure that every year in Debrecen you can see one of the legendary productions of the Hungarian music scene, who rarely or never play at other Hungarian festivals: this year, Thy Catafalque is one of them, who only perform at the Campus. This also clearly shows that at the Campus Festival, the visitor now gets a basically mainstream music performance for a wide audience and a very strong group of underground performers in one package, each audience segment has its own experience. Among the large festivals that attract tens of thousands of people, it is no exaggeration that this kind of musical stratification, the stage and program strategy for each style is unique here.
SPECIAL ANNIVERSARY ON CAMPUS
After last year’s 15th Campus birthday, this year the main role belongs to the jubilant bands. Would you have thought that Tankcsapda and Animal Cannibals have been entertaining audiences for 35 years, Road for 20 and Brains for 30 years? Anna and the Barbies have been in the music scene for 20 years, Intim Torna Illegál, Lazarvs and Balázs Szabó’s Band for 15 years. Margaret Island and Lóci Játszik are both celebrating their 10th anniversary, making the festival program even more colorful.
THE STARS OF OTL ON THE METAL-SHEET BEAT STAGE
OTL is one of the biggest success stories of Hungarian popular music. The members of the community not only defined the direction of trap music in our country, but also created a strong and cohesive young fan base. That is why new wave stars of Hungarian hip-hop are an integral part of this year’s Campus repertoire. On Thursday, András Tircs, aka Ekhoe, one of the most dynamically developing rappers in our country, who is already one of the most listened to performers in Hungary, will be with us. And on the last day of the festival, the talented representatives of the OTL scene Grasa, Gyuris, Atka and Yung Marbi will warm up the fans in front of Marcell Szirmai, that is, the Pogány Induló, who gave an arena concert in the country’s largest indoor stadium this year at only 18 years old.
These performers will not only bring a fresh sound to the festival, but also treat the audience with powerful messages and intense energy, ensuring that the Metal-Sheet Beat Stage is one of the most exciting venues at the festival.
UNIVERSITY NEWS ON THE CAMPUS – EXPERIENCES, TWO STAGES, NATIONAL POINT-CUTTING PARTY
The University of Debrecen will “move” the University Square to the festival area again this year. Spectacular entertainment programs await visitors every day from 3 p.m.: they can try, for example, what it’s like to navigate a spider robot controlled by a tablet/smartphone on an obstacle course, perform a reflex test using a microcontroller and LED strip, sit in an airplane simulator, or find out if they can change a wheel at the wheel change station like the pros. They can take apart and reassemble a human skeleton in the virtual space, they can even experience mixed reality, and then create their own profile picture with a thermal camera. Thanks to the university’s faculties and organizational associations, festival-goers will be able to take part in screening tests, among other things. If you feel like it, you can also mix customized moisturizing hand cream, mosquito repellent liquid, cooling gel for sunburn and insect bites, and children are welcome at Teddy Maci Kórház. Students and adults can spin the Heroic Poem cube, take a book selfie, or paint a textile bag to express a realistic “Self-Portrait”, and then learn how to extract DNA from fruit at home. Those who feel that they have sufficient knowledge can enter an escape room furnished as a research laboratory, from which they must solve logical problems in 30 minutes to get out.
In addition to the spectacular programs at the University Square, this year the University of Debrecen also welcomes festival-goers with two stages. On the UniPass Stage set up at the university festival site, elite sports students and DEAC cheerleaders will present themselves in exciting discussions in the afternoons, with the involvement of university professionals, they will talk about chocolate research, star phenomena in popular culture, the fruit of festival love and the army of satellites, as well as current topics such as at school, at the festival harassment and the criminal law aspects of domestic violence, the joint work of crime scene investigators and forensic experts, as well as what real estate tokenization is. On the Debrecen University Stage close to Pallagi út, you will be able to see and hear performers and bands in the evenings, such as Brains, Margaret Island, Manuel, T. Danny, Soulwave, R-Go, Tibor Dévényi, BSW, Paulina and 4S Street.In addition to all of this, Wednesday evening offers a special experience for the admissions students on the Campus, as the national Point Ott Party will be held here, and this year’s point limits will be announced on the main stage at exactly 8 p.m. at the signal of the minister responsible for culture and innovation, Balázs Hankó.
CHILDCARE AND TELEVISION LEGENDS ON CAMPUS
Campus is not just about music. Life goes on all day in the festival area, it is worth arriving very early and discovering these programs. This year there will also be Kavalkád Utcaszínház, the Csokonai National Theater will invite you to experience dance and improvisational situational play, there will be ART Placc with movement theater and dance, one of the most traditional program venues is the Civil Falu welcomes visiting families every day, and 46 non-governmental organizations and institutions from the Hajdú-Bihar County Police Headquarters to DVSC Futball Zrt.
The Center for Central European Relations of the University of Debrecen, the Renewable Carpathian Basin Program and the Foundation for Generation Z present Safe Future in Mobility, which aims to promote road safety, traffic safety education and sustainable mobility, and promotes the EU Youth Strategy and active social responsibility. eSat project.
In the Civil Village and Campus Kid Playground, hundreds of interactive games, attractions, folk playhouses and children’s programs await everyone from the smallest to the oldest, to the delight of the festival-goers. This year, for the first time in the festival’s history, the organizers are also running a childcare center next to the Játszóliget, in the special hall of Unifit, between 5:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m., so parents have the opportunity to watch a concert each.
At the Civil Agóra Program Square, those interested can once again meet television legends, this time Tamás Vitray, András Bánó, Bertalan Farkas, Zsuzsa Kertész and György Rózsa will be guests of the Campus Festival. The line of live podcast conversations has also been expanded to include more well-known personalities, Antónia Erős, Péter Pachmann and the soon-to-be national team footballer Sándor Torghelle will be at the Campus Festival.
FINANCIAL KNOWLEDGE WITH THE HELP OF OTP BANK
For the sixth year, OTP Bank has supported the Campus Festival as a prominent financial partner. For the first time this year, visitors can enjoy popular light music concerts at the OTP Bank Main Stage, and at the bank’s stand, they can gain financial knowledge with an exciting game. Those who give the most correct answers to the quiz questions and the fastest can continue to play in the Cash Cube for valuable prizes. “OTP Bank is constantly developing its digital products and services in order to provide tangible help with financial matters. At the stand, the participants can literally experience this now, everyone, take the opportunity! “The goal of OTP Bank is for the participants to move forward with greater self-confidence and to feel that they have come even closer to conscious financial matters,” said Sándor Rózsa, head of OTP Bank’s Northeast Hungary Region.
UNIQUE ENVIRONMENT AND COMFORT
The unique location of the Campus Festival is Nagyerdő, which is unparalleled on the domestic festival market. The surroundings of the Nagyerdei Stadium and the Nagerdei Water Tower await visitors with well-developed infrastructure and comfortable services. Shaded, green park areas have a wooded environment, so festival goers can enjoy being close to nature without being bothered by the dust and hot sun. Most of the program locations can be reached on the sidewalk and are largely barrier-free, which contributes even more to the comfortable and enjoyable festival experience, to which the flushing toilets also contribute.
“Besides the foreign headliners and the most colorful and wide range of domestic music programs, festival-goers prefer to visit us because of the atmosphere provided by the venue.” – said András Süli, program director of the Campus festival.
The special features of the location and the high-quality design contribute to the success of the Campus Festival and the satisfaction of the visitors.
“The accessibility of the festival is very good, which means that you can reach the festival site from the city center in 15 minutes by public transport. In addition, there is a large number of high-quality, affordable accommodation and leisure services available in the area. In the immediate vicinity of the festival, there is the Aquaticum Beach with its special architectural features, the Nagyerdei Kultúrpark Zoo and Botanical Garden, and Hungary’s only permanent amusement park, which festival-goers can visit.” – emphasized András Süli.
In addition to all this, the five-star festival venue will offer a number of public interest and convenience services, including:
- package and valuables safe
- bicycle storage
- 0-24 hour medical and ambulance service
- information point
- one hundred and fifty flush toilets
- LIDL Festmarket
- Campus Eye ferris wheel
- observation deck and wall climbing in the Nagerdei Water Tower
GREENER FESTIVAL, SMALLER ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT
Greening the festival is an important aspect every year. In addition to the fact that the repohar system has been available for years, the collection and sorting of waste is also an important element of sustainability. The goal is for the people of Debrecen to get the Great Forest back in its original state even after the festival.
Thanks to the construction of the location, there is no need for environmentally burdensome infrastructural investments and tools, such as the use of diesel generators, which are usually used to solve electricity production.
In addition, the festival encourages visitors to arrive by public transport or by bicycle if possible, for which they support festival-goers with night buses and bicycle storage.
LET’S HELP TOGETHER
The Campus Festival stands up for some social cause every year. Last year HUF 12 million was collected from VIP supporter tickets, part of which was donated to the Regőczi Foundation, which supports covid orphans, as in previous years, and HUF 5 million was spent on school supplies. With the amount collected, they ensured that 200 families started school. The personalized packages were delivered to the beneficiaries by the member organizations of the charitable body. This year, the collection is for Benjámin Micskó. Benjámin Micskó (Beni) is 4 years old and suffers from Duchenne muscular dystrophy, and one of the most expensive drugs in the world can only help him. Due to his serious illness, he may end up in a wheelchair by the age of 10, and then on a ventilator due to the involvement of his respiratory muscles. His only chance of recovery is if he receives gene therapy in time, which costs HUF 1.3 billion. The organizers of the festival encourage the Campus community to join the collection and help Beni so that he can later have life-long experiences on the Campus.
GOOD TO KNOW
At the festival, you can only pay in cashless forms.
If you are looking for something or have any questions or complaints, the staff of the Festival Info Point located near the main entrance will be happy to help. You can also hand in the found items here, or you can look for anything you may have lost here. The guarded bicycle storage is in II. János Pál Pápa tér, and the luggage storage is on the right at the beginning of Ady Endre út.
Entry is free for those born after June 30, 2014. You can only stay at the festival under the supervision of an adult until the age of 14.
The festival will open on Wednesday, July 24, 2024 at 2 p.m. and close on Sunday, July 28, at 11 a.m. The daily ticket for the given day is valid until 11:00 a.m. the next day, if you arrive after midnight, you can still buy a ticket for the previous day, the tickets valid for that day are sold from 6:00 a.m.
OUR ONLINE SURFACES
Website: https://www.campusfestival.hu
Detailed program: https://www.campusfesztival.hu/hu/program
Facebook
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Campus Festival application in the Google Play Store
Campus Festival application in the AppStore
THEY CAME FROM A WAY AWAY
RITA ORA (UK)
METAL-SHEET MAIN STAGE, SATURDAY 22:00
Rita Ora’s boundless popularity is justified by many factors. In addition to music, the singer born in Kosovo is also present in the world of film and fashion, but she also regularly stands up for social causes: as a UNICEF ambassador, she works against child poverty in her native country and around the world. Rita Ora is a real record holder: she was the first female artist to have 13 songs in the British TOP 10.
DIMITRI VEGAS & LIKE MIKE (BEL)
METAL-SHEET MAIN STAGE, FRIDAY 22:00
After the iconic DJ duo Tiësto, they are the second performers on Campus who are currently among the ten best DJs in the world on DJMag’s standard list – they currently occupy the second place! For more than 10 years now, they have been mainstays at the world’s biggest festivals, with countless parties behind them and huge crowds in front of them. A small addition is that Dimitri Vegas is a huge fan of comic books, and Like Mike likes rapping in addition to DJing.
Gayle (USA)
METAL-SHEET MAIN STAGE, WEDNESDAY 22:00
A B C D E F U – the anthem of let down, angry teenagers, is probably not heard on a daily basis for the last two years by anyone living in a cave. The only twenty-year-old performer with millions of listeners and a large fan base is emotions
and draws from a wide range of experiences, which is how his songs in the alternative pop style are mainly composed. At his concerts, he blows up the audience with his special singing voice, crazy guitar solos and liberated energy.
MARTIN SOLVEIG (FRA)
METAL-SHEET MAIN STAGE, THURSDAY 20:15
Coming from France, Martin Solveig creates his hits under the spell of house and EDM rhythms, his best-known songs are Intoxicated, All Day And Night or Hello, one of which you will surely find on one of your party playlists. The highly respected DJ has already worked with famous artists such as Madonna, David Guetta or Jax Jones.
MANDO DIAO (SWE)
OTP BANK MAIN STAGE, THURSDAY 11:00 p.m
“I’m gonna dance with somebody, dance with somebody, dance, dance, dance!” – hardly an indie-rock party has gone down in the last 15 years without everyone singing along to this refrain on the dance floor. The Swedish band is a real sensation from the time of the alternative-indie rock explosion of the 2010s. The style, diverse musical and artistic means of expression of the five members contributed to the fact that they have been touring the main stages of festivals for 25 years.
DARUDE (FIN)
METAL-SHEET BEAT STAGE, SATURDAY 01:30
A prominent figure in the trance-dance-house music scene, Darude exploded into public consciousness at the turn of the millennium. His breakthrough success was brought to him by his hit song “Sandstorm”, the opening synthesizer of which still moves hands and feet all over the world to this day. During his more than 20-year career, the Finnish disc jockey has proven himself at the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest in addition to the world’s biggest festivals. His musical world is characterized by tight rhythms, vibrant melodies and easy danceability.
QUEEN OMEGA & THE ROYAL SOULS (TTO)
CATL LIGHTHOUSE STAGE, THURSDAY 9:00 p.m
The Trinidadian reggae queen with a natural and scratchy voice, who is best known here as Azahriah’s duet partner (Four Moods 2), is coming to the Campus Festival with her band, The Royal Souls. In 2023, he became known to the rest of the world, thanks to the viral popularity of the song No Love Dubplate by Swiss producer Little Lion Sound. Queen Omega and her fellow musicians liberate their audience both mentally and emotionally through their authentic Caribbean-sounding music.
DANKO JONES (CAN)
WELDING ROCK ARENA, THURSDAY 19:30
Danko Jones is a trio of passionate guitar riffs, banging melodies and life-affirming rock anthems. The Canadian band offers a wide selection of electric rock’n’roll on a tray. Over the years, Danko Jones has released several successful albums and toured with big names such as Guns N’ Roses, Motörhead and Volbeat.
RIVAL CONSOLES (UK)
CATL LIGHTHOUSE STAGE, SATURDAY 22:40
The musical concept of Ryan Lee West, or as he is known in the world of intelligent electronic music, Rival Consoles, is to transform harsh electronic sounds into an organic, live effect. His latest album, Now Is, released in 2022, which was praised by both critics and the public, is more melodic and acoustic than before, but still carries the atmosphere of metamorphosis. One of the headliners of last year’s INOTA Festival will take us on a meaningful journey at the base of the Water Tower this year.
NATASCHA POLKÉ (SUI)
CATL LIGHTHOUSE STAGE, SATURDAY 02:00
Natascha Polké, who grew out of the Swiss underground techno culture and is now a world-renowned and exciting up-and-coming DJ and producer, is presenting herself in Hungary for the first time.
AXEL BOY (UK)
PEPSI MUSIC HALL, SATURDAY 01:30 (NEXT LEVEL TAKEOVER)
The Bristol mastermind of bass music, bass-oriented electronic music, will guide us through the land of deep frequencies as the international guest of Saturday night’s NEXT LEVEL Takeover, expected to include in his set the drum’n’bass rhythms that have recently flourished again.
WHO YOU DON’T SEE EVERY WEEK
AZAHRIAH
METAL-SHEET MAIN STAGE, THURSDAY 22:00
There is absolutely no need to introduce Azahriah today – the musician who produced YouTube content a few years ago is now clearly the most popular music performer in Hungary. In addition to the three Puskás arenas, let’s not forget that his foreign career is building at a lightning fast pace, this year we can see him at many renowned European festivals and cult clubs – but here at home you can catch him at very few concerts, one of these exclusive occasions is the prime-time performance at the Campus Festival.
AMORPHOUS DEVILS
KOCSI.HU STAGE, WEDNESDAY 23:15
After seven years, in the summer of 2024, the legendary Hungarian group, which describes itself in the kacatpop style, and one of the key bands of 21st century Hungarian alternative pop music, Amorf Ördögök, reunited. THE
The author couple Ambrus Tariska Szabolcs-Tövisházi and the orchestra characterized by Bori Péterfy can be seen at the Palace of the Arts and a double Budapest club concert this year at a single festival concert: the Campus Festival. And did you know that the Tövisházi-Tariska duo put together János Kulka’s latest album?
THY CATAFALQUE
WELDING ROCK ARENA, FRIDAY 11:15 PM
The key avant-garde metal band has a loyal and fanatical following worldwide. Until two years ago, Tamás Kátai’s cult production could only be heard on studio albums, but since then he has been performing concerts with a live band – only a few times a year in Hungary. This year’s festival season, Thy Catafalque will be seen live only on the Campus, whose musical universe includes many elements from the post-black style to the striking presentation of Hungarian folk tradition.
MUSIC TRAIN SUPER CONCERT WITH THE STARS OF LGT
DEBRECEN UNIVERSITY STAGE, SATURDAY 19:00
The 3 legends of LGT, Tamás Somló, János Karácsony and János Solti, played the main roles in the production created by the band Abrakazbra from Debrecen. Since the death of Tamás Somló, we can hear the biggest and most popular LGT hits with the participation of Karácsony and Solti, as well as Jennifer Szirota and Gábor Biga Heincz. The production has already performed these memorable songs at many events, but they have never performed at the Campus Festival.
GOLDEN CORD
UNIVERSITY SQUARE – UNIPASS STAGE, FRIDAY 9:15 PM
Tibor Kiss, the frontman of Quimby, can be seen in two special roles on Campus this year: as a guest of the Csík Orchestra on the Metal-Sheet Main Stage, and then with his hobby project, the Aranyakkord. Aranyakkord is a collection of “leftover” songs that were spit out by the sofa, but have not yet fit anywhere. A song show in which, alongside Tibi Kiss, Gábor Vastag and Andor Gábor UFO perform “chamber music” on stage.
TANK TRAP ACOUSTICS
WELDING ROCK ARENA, SATURDAY 11:15 p.m
Tankcsapda can be considered a regular performer at Campus Festivals, which is justified by the band’s name linked to the city of Debrecen, as well as their unbroken popularity for decades. The trio will actually celebrate the 35th anniversary of their founding throughout 2024, but on Campus they will do it in a way that breaks the mold like nowhere else: they will be on stage on three different days, in three different locations, with three different programs during the event. The subtitles of the concerts – 35, B-side, Acoustics – are telling, as they at least hint at what the audience can expect on which evening, and based on these alone we can be sure that we will not be able to get a more thorough cross-section in such a short time.
about their careers. And the Acoustic show will be a real premiere, so far you have never seen Tankcsapda in this form.
