The heart of the Danube party scene – see what’s new at PONTOON

The most important change at PONTOON this year is that the ship has its own kitchen, something that was really missing. A few times last year, someone’s evening had to be interrupted because one of the party got hungry and had to leave the boat to find food elsewhere – even though this wasn’t a problem at the old Pontoon.

But now this has been rectified because there’s food at PONTOON again this year. Due to the renovation of Normafa in Buda, the Mexican cuisine of La Cabina, which was served there before, had to move and has now found no better new home than the PONTOON ship.

So from now on, those who get hungry don’t have to stop the party, because they can eat on board – and not just any old thing, but Mexican street food: stripped-beef, chicken or vegan tacos and quesadillas, or there are delicious churros and nachos available. with dipping sauces.

A separate room has been set up for the kitchen and the food section in the lower part of the ship – but, of course, you can enjoy what you order anywhere on board. Another novelty in terms of gastronomy and hospitality is that there’s coffee at PONTOON this year.

All the same, the point of Pontoon is still partying, not dining, and this year there will be a change in that direction, too, all for the better, of course. The dance floor on the upper deck has been expanded, and the performers who used to be on the same level, have been given a smaller stage higher up, so from now on they can more easily seen by everyone.

The lower parts have also been expanded, so this year you can spend your evening much more comfortably in a larger space on the PONTOON boat than last year.

In the lower part, not only the kitchen part is new, and the chilled, relaxing parts in the bow and stern of the ship now bigger, but there’s a new room that was used last year for collecting the deposit on glasses.


Behind a small counter, young Hungarian performers can showcase their art in the evenings, and if they do well, next year they can take their music upstairs – although there’ll be no shortage of that this year, either. If anything, there’s more.

The traditional and regular Gypsy music evenings on Tuesdays will be expanded, and great names from folk and pop will also perform. Rock, which has rarely been included in the repertoire so far, will also be played at PONTOON this year. In any case, musically speaking, everything continues where it left off last autumn.

The excellent range of musical genres becomes even wider with many new performers lined up. The old themed music nights with jazz, hip hop, indie pop, soft and hard electronic tunes will remain. There will also be acoustic concerts, Latin-Caribbean parties, Italo disco and jam sessions like back in the old days.

The old PONTOON served as a venue for many memorable concerts – for example, when the Qualitons once played there a few years ago, there was such a party that members of the Red Hot Chili Peppers in town were gazing at it with envy from their hotel rooms.

This year you can catch the following artists and parties, hot on the local scene: Mörk, Obroni, LavaLava, Henri Gonzo, Funkyzeit, Adis Is OK, LAU, Mr. MSTRS, Sobekin, Pure Lust, WaTa, OIEE, Los Orangutanes and Slow Village. But many foreign artists will perform, too, such as Quantic, Prins Thomas, Young Marco, Skatebard, Cinthie, DJ Food and Crazy P, among others.


The party is always free, there's no admission at PONTOON.

PONTOON is open every day and it will continue to be until the autumn, as long as the weather is warm enough on the deck. They open at 4pm and close at 4am.

If someone asks why PONTOON is such a good place, the answer would be the extremely diverse musical palette and the amazing party atmosphere, which hasn’t changed since they moved from the Danube shore to a floating boat.