Welcome to Balaton Sound, one of Europe's largest open air electric music festivals, with DJs from all around the world. Set in one of Hungary's most beautiful locations, on the banks of the gigantic Balaton lake, this was its 11th year running!
Balaton Sound runs for five nights, you can stay for all five or just opt for one night. We went on the last night and this is what we thought:
Location: Balaton Sound Is At (Drumroll...) Lake Balaton!
First things first, Balaton Sound is right on Balaton lake which means that a) it's in a beautiful setting and b) you can go swimming anytime you like.
We've been dying to visit the Hungarian sea for ages and now we finally had an 'excuse' to visit. It did not disappoint. Despite the fact it rained a little bit in the evening, the weather was really really great - Hungary gets HOT in the summer, which meant we could walk around all night without being cold. I sound like an old woman... but if you've been to festivals in certain countries, *cough UK cough* you'll know how shit it can be to be at a festival in shit weather.
Stages And Acts
With music from 10am until 6am and ten stages at Balaton Sound, there is something for everyone - as long as everyone likes electric. I mean it's an electric festival of course you like electric. Anyway some of the stages were GIGANTIC - we loved the main stage (where we saw Marshmello!)
There was another stage (the Telekom Arena) which was almost as normal, but completely undercover! (Great for if it rains).
Some stages were smaller - perfect for dancing and chatting to people: we even bumped into a Hungarian YouTuber here!
The best thing about it is the range of different styles, if you're bored with one you can visit another.
There was even a foam party at one stage - really at Balaton Sound you can expect to find anything and everything.
Which includes a big wheel, a zip-line and a bungy jump!
But it didn't just stop at the stages, even when you were just walking between the stages you could expect to find something super cool, perhaps a trope of people on stilts:
a strange other-wordly jellyfish march:
or perhaps an awesome walking marching band:
These guys were my favourite - they were so talented!
Having VIP Passes at Balaton Sound
We had VIP passes and they were SO worth it! Firstly, we had the best view of the main stage (aka we were higher up, especially important for shorties like me).
When it started to rain we were the only ones under shelter. Okay it only rained for like 20 minutes but it was great to be under-cover.
We had clean toilets and no queues. This is a massive bonus.
Food at Balaton Sound
I was SO impressed by the food options at Balaton Sound. There was so much choice and considering it was a festival, the prices were very very reasonable. Budapest is a very vegan friendly city with lots of great vegan restaurants. Hungary as a whole isn't too bad - all the cities have at least one vegan restaurant, but out in the sticks it can be a bit harder.
I was expecting us to struggle at Balaton Sound and end up living on chips. But I was delighted to find falafel and hummus at many stalls and ecstatic to discover a whole vegan stall - the food at Vegan Love was incredible!
Accommodation At Balaton Sound
Balaton Sound offers an awesome amount of different accommodations options for every tastes: from tents up to hotels, and wooden huts too! We stayed in a two person wooden hut. In some ways it was pretty basic: a bunk bed, some space for our bags and a door that only locked when we weren't in it (i.e. it had a padlock but it was outside).
In other ways it was grand: the mattresses were unbelievably comfortable, there was electricity :) and it was so great to be able to safely lock our things away when we went out.
You can rent tents from Balaton Sound or bring your own and rent a spot. There were also lockers to rent to keep your things safe. There were different huts to ours too, some shaped like tents, others painted like animals. Basically, there are lots of different options for everyone! We were happy with our hut.
In other ways it was grand: the mattresses were unbelievably comfortable, there was electricity :) and it was so great to be able to safely lock our things away when we went out.
You can rent tents from Balaton Sound or bring your own and rent a spot. There were also lockers to rent to keep your things safe. There were different huts to ours too, some shaped like tents, others painted like animals. Basically, there are lots of different options for everyone! We were happy with our hut.
The Vibe of the Festival
I wasn't so sure about the vibe at Balaton Sound, these weren't the friendly Hungarians I know and love (probably because lots of them weren't Hungarians). Everyone was buff af. Aforementioned males weren't just strange Slovakian anomalies, this is what the average guy looks like at Balaton Sound - hunkolicious and topless. Yum you say? Nothing between their ears I say. I like a hot, topless guy as much as the next person, but I like them to have a brain too. #spoiled
Perhaps it was because we were there on the last day and everyone was hungover and grumpy, but perhaps not: our friend Elias Limitless had been there the whole time and said it had been hard to make friends. But on the other hand he smelt super bad from not washing for five days so who knows - I mean I made friends with him, but only because I like YouTubers, I like Germans and I stood downwind from him most of the time. lol.
Perhaps it was because we were there on the last day and everyone was hungover and grumpy, but perhaps not: our friend Elias Limitless had been there the whole time and said it had been hard to make friends. But on the other hand he smelt super bad from not washing for five days so who knows - I mean I made friends with him, but only because I like YouTubers, I like Germans and I stood downwind from him most of the time. lol.
How to Get to Balaton Sound
First things first you've got to get to Balaton. It's super easy from Budapest (less than two hours on a direct train). We took the train from Budapest to Zamardi (the nearest station to Balaton Sound). We used our Interrail passes to get there. [Read more: best wine tasting in Budapest]
We highly recommend getting Interrail passes and tying in your Balaton Sound trip with an Interrailing trip round Hungary so you can see more of the beautiful country. We used our pass to see Budapest, Balaton Sound, Debrecen, Szeged and Eger (and then Hamburg, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Oslo and Birmingham too lol).
Back to Balaton Sound, once you've got to the station, you can walk or get a taxi to the festival. The walk takes about 30 minutes. Which feels longer if it's sunny and you have heavy bags. Haha.
We highly recommend getting Interrail passes and tying in your Balaton Sound trip with an Interrailing trip round Hungary so you can see more of the beautiful country. We used our pass to see Budapest, Balaton Sound, Debrecen, Szeged and Eger (and then Hamburg, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Oslo and Birmingham too lol).
Back to Balaton Sound, once you've got to the station, you can walk or get a taxi to the festival. The walk takes about 30 minutes. Which feels longer if it's sunny and you have heavy bags. Haha.
Wrap Up: Our Balaton Sound Review
All in all, we had a blast at Balaton Sound. The weather, the food, the location, the music were all awesome. We loved having VIP tickets and really recommend them. Don't just take our word for it though, our best bud Jones went last year and loved it, here's his 2016 Balaton Sound Review. Would we go for the whole five days? Probably not, we like showering and sleeping way to much. Would we go again for the night? DEFINITELY!!! here's to Balaton Sound 2018!! We also make YouTube videos!! Check out our awesome Balaton Sound one!
Disclaimer: Travelling Weasels were invited as guests but as always all opinions are our own. We have never, and never will, recommend something we haven't personally tried and enjoyed. We research our collaborations very carefully beforehand to check that it will be something we enjoy. On the unlikely occasion that we do dislike something, we tell you!!
ABOUTME
We overland. We eat plants and fungi. We live outside as much as possible. We are all connected. A female travel blogger overlanding and writing about ecotourism, ethical and sustainable travel, socially conscious travel and housesitting. An online travel magazine since 2015.
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