Balaton Sound
Press Release

Newcomer on the Hungarian Festival Scene: BALATON SOUND

A new event is organized by Sziget Cultural Management this season for the first time. The festival will take place at the Southern coast of Lake Balaton, at Zamárdi between July 12-15, 2007. The event is characterized by an exciting program and high quality services. The names published so far show a variety of genres but a clear direction with strong international stars like Beastie Boys, Basement Jaxx, Kruder & Dorfmeister, Eric Prydz, Roger Sanchez, José Padilla and many other.

During the several months of preparation quite some information leaked out and the new event of Sziget Cultural Management was considered to become a representative of a new concept, the 'top festival'. Head organizer, Mr. Károly Gerendai, referred to this concept as a demand on the market. First the market of 'normal' festivals is almost full in the region, but the interest in higher quality events is growing year by year. People are looking for events with better quality services and higher comfort standards. The location of BALATON SOUND is the perfect base for such standards: a beautiful green coast at Zamárdi with a sensational panorama of the Tihany peninsula.

The set of programs is also different compared to the average festival line up. First the vast majority of the performances come from the well known international scene and also there is a special thematically selected list of local artist, who are not always the best known Hungarian festival stars. Catering and other facilities are also prepared with special care on BALATON SOUND. Cocktail- and lounge bars, Cafés and quality restaurants are waiting for the audience and instead of benches chill out areas with comfortable seats and sofas will be available. For those who are looking for a camping site the organizer created a separate camping area, but also there is a possibility to book accommodation in local hotels directly from the official site of the festival.

More information will be available on www.BALATONSOUND.hu. Coming soon!

Stars on the Beach
Beside many small venues the major programs will take place on the three main stages of the event: Heineken Mainstage, T-Mobile - LG Lounge with a program from morning till dawn and the Aréna. The organizers tried to collect not only big names from the mainstream but also artists with exclusive shows and performances.

The biggest hit of the event is probably the appearance of Beastie Boys on the Heineken Mainstage.. The most popular hip-hop band of all times is awaited by the Hungarian audience for more than a decade now. After having shows on the biggest festivals of the world the past years, wrote hip-hop hymns of their generation and released smashing albums finally as a part of their European Tour they arrive to BALATON SOUND. We will have the chance to meet the British duo, Basement Jaxx on the same stage. The fabulous dance group got the whole crowd moving two years ago on Sziget, since than they published a new album, which also has some impressive tunes. This year Kruder & Dorfmeister only accepted the invitation of a show in London and BALATON SOUND's. The Austrians , who did not have a set together so far in Hungary promised to have an unbelievable visual experience on the Mainstage The French Patrice, who is the best know and the most popular star of the European reggae scene of today will also make the program of the Mainstage stronger. On the same venue the band Oi-Va-Voi, famous for mixing the traditional East-European folk, jiddisch and techno, will also make an appearance, just like the smash hit from France, Saian Supa Crew selling 400 000 from their debut album. Furthermore Client, the sexy female duo from England with their sharp, electronic pop sound will also have a show on the Mainstage.

The venue with the longest open hours will be the T-Mobile-LG Lounge. During the morning, till afternoon people can enjoy easy music and cocktail bars or just hang out next to it in the lake. Early afternoon live Jazz and unplugged music will take over the place and by the second half of the day we can meet such names on stage like the French Nouvelle Vague, the Austrian "acapella" hiphop group, Bauchklang, or Madrid de los Austrias. Probably quite many people will be happy to see José Padilla, the father of the Café del Mar series, on stage during the sunset The lounge area becomes a dance floor by night, DJs like Tiga or DJ Storm will spin the records for us.

The line-up of Aréna is also full of superstars. Roger Sanchez, the iconic figure of New York house will be on stage next to Lake Balaton. For the first time the Hungarian audience can meet Eric Prydz, whose cover on Pnik Floyd is leading the European charts for months now. Also there will be quite some big names from the best know djs of the world's electronic festival scene: Hernan Cattaneo, Ferry Corsten, Junkie XL and Darren Emerson will all appear in the Aréna of BALATON SOUND.

Representing the Hungarian music landscape, there is a special selection of artists and bands that fit the event’s profile. Quimby, Emil Rulez!, Belga, Hiperkarma and the Pannonia Allstars Ska Orchestra will all have a show on the Heineken Mainstage. In addition to them there is a wide variety of Hungarian performances from Elemér Balázs to Zagar or from Kispál unplugged to Eszter Váczi and the Szörp.

There are further colourful programs at the Coca-Cola and Cha-Cha-Cha open air disco or at rádiócafé 98.6 live studio plus on the many facilities on water.

Tickets from May
The price of a day ticket will be 25 Euro and for the whole four day program the season ticket will cost 58 Euro (On the spot the prices will be: 27 Euro / Day ticket, 66 Euro / season ticket) . Tickets will be available online (www.balatonsound.hu) or at the major ticket offices (the list is published on www.balatonsound.hu) from the middle of May 2007.

Contacts: Gergo Salamon PR and Press Coordinator Sziget Cultural Management 1399 Budapest, Pf. 694/245

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