Along with the world-class concerts, this year’s VOLT Festival features appealing innovations like a new layout that places the two main stages opposite from each other, making it easier to go back and forth between shows.
New additions include a capsule hotel, while a special focus on art encompasses a large-scale project to build creative temporary furniture from wooden pallets, which anyone can participate in.
To further enhance the arty atmosphere, several of Sopron’s contemporary artists created a unique look by designing two of the stages and setting up fascinating installations around the festival grounds – ensuring that the VOLT Festival has a fresh appearance, even for fans who have faithfully attended this western-Hungary jamboree for decades.
In addition to the ongoing rock, jazz, electronica, and world-music tunes resonating from the major VOLT Festival stages, other attractions include the laid-back “Poncichter Quarter” featuring several renowned Sopron wineries pouring their finest nectars, an escape-room game, an amusement park, and plenty of other offbeat activities found throughout the shaded festival grounds.
As of press time, passes are still available for each day of this year’s VOLT Festival(July 1-4); check the event’s official website for ticket information, or visit the festival information booth in Budapest’s Erzsébet Square. Getting to Sopron from Budapest is easiest by rail – there are direct connections daily from Keleti Railway Station at 6:10am, 8:10am, 10:10am, 2:10pm, 4:10pm, and 7:10pm (see complete timetables) to Sopron Railway Station, where passengers can hop on the festival shuttle bus that takes them directly to the main entrance.
Sopron is not located along any of Hungary’s major highways, and getting there by car takes about two and a half hours. Begin by taking Motorway M7 to the M1 west from Budapest, continuing around Győr until reaching the turnoff for main road 85. Travel west on this road through Enese, Csorna, Kapuvár, and Fertőszentmiklós, until main road 85 intersects with main road 84. The city limits of Sopron lie just a few kilometers north of this confluence, and signs clearly point the way to the festival grounds from there – and of course, those with GPS can simply type “Lővér Camping, Sopron” into their robot navigators. (During Budapest’s morning and afternoon rush hours, traffic can slow down when you are about to take M7 due to current roadwork.)
Once arrived, guests can drift amid tree-shaded attractions in a happy daze between the diverse concerts – this year’s lineup features more than 100 different performances held on seven stages, with headliners including Slash with Myles Kennedy & the Conspirators and Triggerfinger on July 1st, Bastille and Rise Against on July 2nd, David Guetta, Motörhead, and the Parov Stelar Band on July 3rd, and Fatboy Slim and John Newman on July 4th. In addition, here are some lesser-known-but-not-for-long acts that we definitely recommend, including some up-and-coming Magyar musicians.
Parkway DriveJuly 2, 5:40pm – Telekom Main Stage Byron Bay’s Parkway Drive is an international force, seizing the worldwide crown through sheer determination, force of will, and undeniable musicality. It’s all courtesy of pulverizing but unforgettably catchy riffs, vocals that connect on levels that are at once urgent and visceral, and a groundswell of support among fans and press that stretches across several continents. The band has perfected the special blend of heavy histrionics and crowd-participation-inducing connectivity that so many bands aspire toward yet too few achieve. Whether headlining throughout the world or stealing the show at festivals ranging from Download to VOLT, Parkway Drive earned a reputation as one of the most vitally important bands of the modern metal age.Margaret Island July 1, 5:30pm – Mastercard Terrace Margaret Island is one of the newest bands appearing at the VOLT Festival; they are a trio playing acoustic folk-pop – think of Passenger, Ben Howard, Tom Odell, or Mumford & Sons, and you’ve got it. Although we called them a trio in the first sentence, that’s not entirely true: the core of the band consists of three musicians, but they are joined by others onstage. They love street performing and improvising, so they don’t get tired of playing the same song again and again. Although their summer calendar is packed with concert dates all around Hungary, they’ll take time to add some finishing touches to their debut album, scheduled to debut in the middle of September.TigaJuly 3, 2:40am – Telekom Main Stage “Sunglasses at Night”, “Plush”, “Let’s Go Dancing”, “Move My Body”, “Sex O’ Clock” – these are just some of the biggest dance-floor hits that one of the most well-known DJ-gigolos has released. Tiga – the always classy house/techno maestro – was influenced by the notorious 1980s Indian club scene, and that’s something he cannot hide: every time he stands behind the decks, he rips up the dance floors and smashes any kind of anti-dance vibes with his classy-yet-groovy sets. The founder of Turbo Recordings, who worked with acts like Felix Da Housecat, Alter Ego, Fischerspooner, Cabaret Voltaire, and Danni Minogue, and sang on Richard X’s debut album, definitely knows what a good night is about:
pleasure from the bass!Szabó Balázs BandájaJuly 4, 11:30pm – Jana Stage Balázs Szabó is a true modern polymath: singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, puppeteer, and storyteller. After leaving the band Suhancos, he formed his own group and is achieving increasing popularity. His songs “Én már nem”, “Zaj”, and “Bájoló” quickly became favorites of both his concert audience and radio stations, as did Szabó’s adaptations of poetry to music – he adapted the poems of classic Hungarian writers János Pilinszky, Ferenc Szemlér, and Sándor Weöres, as well as tackling works by contemporary writers such as Krisztián Grecsó. As far as his music is concerned, Balázs is not only a talented violinist, but a true visionary, blending together the elements of jazz, folk, pop, rock, and world music into something truly unique.Lilly Wood & the Prick July 2, 7:50pm – Jana Stage The band’s story is a musical fairy tale. One night, Nili and Ben met in a bar. Something magical happened. She sings, he plays the guitar. They began to create their first songs, with a folk-blues influence. Without really knowing where that could lead them, but realizing how well they worked together, the very next day they started writing their first track. Lily Wood & the Prick were born – disenchanted, sparkling pop music amped up with fun.
