We were immersed in the Valley of the Arts, from where we did not even want to come home

Balaton is at arm's length, the Káli basin is near-by, and Budapest is only an hour and a half away from the "Valley", yet it is as if we are arriving on an island of tranquillity, where one goes to recharge. We have already written about the fact that Kapolcs is surrounded by a special, almost palpable desire to create, and this can be experienced at any time of the year.

The 2024 programme was enriched by jazz, folk music, light music, yoga, bicycle tours, readings, literary evenings, round table discussions, improvisation workshops, exhibitions, workshops and film screenings.  

As every year, this year too it would have been worth travelling to the Valley of the Arts for the music line-up alone, as great artists such as Aurevoir, Bagossy Brothers Company, Belga, Blahalouisiana, Beton.Hofi, Bohemian Betyars, Carson Coma, Elefánt, Quimby, Punnany Massif, and 30Y performed. If you stay in the Valley for several days, it is not even worth watching the programme, since you can catch a frenzy on every street corner, and between two spritzes you can easily run into a Slow Village-style relaxed nod in one of the inner courtyards. Analog Balaton, Balázs Szabó's Band and Vad Fruttik also conjured such a spanking atmosphere this year. Finally, in the Cirque du Tókert, the general public could hear the concerts of János Bródy, László Dés, András Kern and Zorán.

It was not only the main stages that were busy this year either, jazz lovers could get involved in a frenzied party at the Hungarian Jazz Association Courtyard, the Harcsa Veronika Courtyard and the MókusKert Courtyard. The Valley also performed well on the classical music front; those interested could hear excellent performances in the churches in Kapolcs and Vigántpetend, and Folk Udvar gave place for folk music.

Festival-goers may be a little embarrassed when they receive the thick programme booklet together with the wristband on the first day. But once you overcome the sudden FOMO, you can quickly get into cherry-picking. It is almost already in your mind that after the presentation of The history of monument and building photography by the Hungarian Architecture Museum and Monument Preservation Documentation Centre, held in the MűvészVölgy Hall, you will head to the Petőfi courtyard, where as a guest of Anna Juhász Róbert Hrutka will play guitar, Anikó Für will sing and Géza Bereményi will tell stories. After a little roaming, back to the Panorama stage for the Margaret Island concert. It can be organized very well so that the culture-hungry valley dweller can go to rest satisfied at the end of the day, so that he can start picking again the next day, since the festival offers an almost inexhaustible number of programmes. At this year's event, the general public could see for the first time the joint play of the Valley of the Arts and Art-Színtér, Tikk-Takk boom starring Gergely Csiby, Enikő Dobó and Márk Ember, but on the theatre front, festival-goers could choose from countless excellent programmes. We could pop into the Momentán Courtyard any day to improvise, and we could watch great movies in the Filmio courtyard if we felt like relaxing a little.

The Valley of the Arts is also special because here we can not only observe the creation process, but we can also try it out! This year, 300 photos were taken in the Analogue Courtyard with a pinhole camera built from beer cans, and 250 portrait diaries with analogue photographic processes. In the House of Traditions Folk Courtyard, we could learn catchy folk songs, but it was not uncommon for the audience to dance - this was particularly true at the LEMangURIA Creative Movement Courtyard as well.

Experienced valley residents already know that the Valley of the Arts "pampers" not only adults with better and better programmes. Every year, the festival offers many opportunities even for the littlest ones, but the event is still great fun if you just muck about with the little ones. Admission is free for children under the age of 6, and it is definitely worth taking advantage of! We can get lost in the wonderful work of the woodcarving man, we can browse among the exhibitors of the craft yard, we can marvel at the gigantic installation of the ceramists, but we can also play for a long time on the banks of the stream or watch a musical puppet show. Whatever the case, you do not have to find childcare for the duration of the Valley!  

Although we are almost still under the influence of the 2024 festival, let's take out our calendars for next year, because the festival is waiting for everyone to return to Kapolcs, Taliándörögd and Vigántpetendre, between 18-27 July, 2025!