Festival All Summer Long! - Factory'ard CulturePark is launched in Veszprém
One of the most important summer events of the Veszprém-Balaton 2023 European Capital of Culture programme is the newly opened pop-up venue, Factory'ard CulturePark, which will host concerts and music programmes of more than 60 international and Hungarian artists for 4 months. The organisers are planning a series of events that will run throughout the summer, starting on the first weekend of May in the city centre of Veszprém, in Factory'ard CulturePark, a modern, multifunctional venue created by the rehabilitation of the former Balaton Furniture Factory. The venue will host international world stars such as Kraftwerk, Iggy Pop, Paul Kalkbrenner, Paolo Nutini, Steve Aoki, Papa Roach and Hollywood Undead from 5th May as part of the Veszprém-Balaton 2023 European Capital of Culture programme.
The programmes: international stars
As part of the VEB2023 ECoC programme, concerts, bands and DJ performances will take place every week for three to four days from the beginning of May until the first weekend in September. As part of the ever-expanding programme, nearly 30 foreign and Hungarian artists have already been announced, including many of the international stars who fill festivals and arenas around the world.
This summer, Kraftwerk, Iggy Pop, Paul Kalkbrenner, one of the most prominent exponents of the demanding and ever-renewing techno and electronic music scene, the world-famous British singer-songwriter Paolo Nutini, and Steve Aoki, the American-born EDM DJ of Japanese descent who likes to throw cakes into the audience, will all be performing on the Factory'ard stage.
The list of performers is not short, with Papa Roach / Hollywood Undead representing the American nu metal genre, coming to our country to perform together, and the Glasgow indie rock band Franz Ferdinand. Also in the line-up is the always multi-faceted, ex-Molokos Roísín Murphy, and Medvza, the Italian trio who have exploded onto the scene with Piece Of Your Heart, Paradise and Lose Control.
The programmes: Hungarian stars
Of course, the Hungarian popular music elite will not be left out of the line-up either: a non-exhaustive list includes Ákos, who celebrates his 30th jubilee this year, the popular Transylvanian Hungarian band Bagossy Brothers Company, and the Hungarian band Halott Pénz. Majka will also perform at Factory'ard and everyone will dance with him that night, and Kispál and Lovasi will bring us songs from a legendary oeuvre. Quimby, popular with all age groups, will come to Veszprém, too and perhaps the most popular Hungarian artist with young people today, 21-year-old singer-rapper Azahriah, will also arrive.
Vad Fruttik, one of the favourite bands of the Veszprém region, will also be performing in Factory'ard: after their transformation at the end of 2022, they will start the summer festival season here. Tankcsapda, Road, Best Of Geszti and Rúzsa Magdi will also perform on the Factory'ard main stage during the summer.
Tickets for the concerts will be available on the official website of the venue, gyarkert.hu, from 15.00, 13th April. Some of the European Capital of Culture concerts in Factory'ard are free to attend, while the VEB2023 ECoC support programme for ticketed events ensures that prices are rather favourable.
The venue: Factory’ard CulturePark
For many years, the former site of Balaton Furniture Factory lay derelict in the centre of Veszprém; this is where Factory'ard CulturePark has been created. The area, known as the "scar", has been bought by the city and is being transformed into a public park and temporary event venue for the city centre of Veszprém. In the year of the ECoC, the number of residents and tourists visiting the area and the diversity of the programmes require an outdoor venue of this scale, so this year the area will be a prime location for concerts and events from May to October, while on weekdays it can be used as a community park.
With the help of the country's leading pop-up architects, a spectacular installation designed by award-winning international architecture studio Hello Wood will be completed on the revitalised site by the end of April. The Garden of Communities is an artwork promoting the culture of the Veszprém-Balaton region. The living, green installation of 116 plant boxes will be the centrepiece of Factory'ard CulturePark and will symbolise the collaboration of the 116 municipalities participating in the ECoC programme.
The landscaped area will be equipped with service units, restaurants, catering facilities and a complete event infrastructure, as well as two separate stages for the nearly 5,000 visitors who will be entertained simultaneously.
Free opening weekwnd – 5th-7th May
As part of Factory'ard's opening weekend celebrations, the locally-affiliated band Vad Fruttik will be giving a spectacular free concert on 5th May. One of the region's favourite bands will kick off the summer festival season in Veszprém's Factory'ard to the delight of many, following their transformation at the end of 2022. On the second day of the opening weekend, Stereo MC'S, one of the most successful British hip hop bands of all time, will visit Veszprém. The two leading personalities and founding members of this multi-faceted collective are over fifty years old, but there is still so much energy left in them that it seems like they took to the streets yesterday, not twenty-five years ago, to set out on the road to success. The same drive and energy will be there on 6th May.
The opening weekend's concerts are free of charge thanks to the Veszprém-Balaton 2023 European Capital of Culture programme, but they are subject to pre-registration, which can be done at www.gyarkert.hu.
Balaton Picnic
As part of Factory'ard's programme series, this year the electronic music festival Balaton Picnic, which has already visited several Balaton coastal settlements, will move to Veszprém. The festival, which will take place on 18th-19th August and will focus on the softer and more subtle electronic music genres, tech house, minimal and electro pop, will bring international stars of the genre to the new venue.
About the organisers - the operator is VOLT
From the very beginning, the MOL Nagyon Balaton event series has made it its mission to present the most exciting and high quality productions of the Balaton Region in a compilation every year.
Under the auspices of the brand, a number of now well-known events were established, including Zamárdi's Strand Festival, B my Lake, ZamJam Festival and Balaton Picnic.
The team of VOLT Produkció Ltd, the tourism umbrella brand founded in 2013, set itself the goal of using its decades of experience in event management to help draw attention to the values and special events found here, and therefore they were the first to join the sponsors of the European Capital of Culture competition in Veszprém, and signed a letter of intent with the mayor of the city.
Later, when it became certain that Veszprém and the Balaton Region would become European Capital of Culture, not only did they develop closer cooperation with the festivals and events in Veszprém, but also helped promote the project through MOL Very Balaton events.
After all this, when the City of Veszprém announced a tender for the operation of Factory'ard CulturePark, which was established as a key venue for events related to the European Capital of Culture programme, there was no question for VOLT Produkció Ltd to apply for this opportunity.
