Photo credit: ©O.Z.O.R.A. Festival 2014 by Shahar Ratzenberg
The Hungarian Psytrance Scene
The Hungarian Goa/psytrance scene is in its twenties now. It started growing deep underground with parties massively kicking off in the late 90’s, open air events at the most amazing places in the very midst of nature. Though the local psychedelic culture could not get a foothold in club-life for a while, the contemporary acid/techno party-trained organisers made sure that there were always special, legendary events in the autumn-winter season as well, often held at the most bizarre places. This is no different today. Besides the diverse range of clubs for smaller parties, there are also some true bastions of nightlife, often filled with 800-1500 revellers every 2-3 weeks, where the community can gather. Dürer Garden is one of these, with three different psytrance stages and a huge garden area.The space is filled by the country’s most active team of organisers, Y-production, recently presenting events in collaboration with the legendary Psybaba Records, veteran representatives of the darker shades of psy, and goa.hu, the first and only Hungarian psychedelic platform. Thanks to goa.hu, Hungary has been part of the international Earthdance movement for several years now and more recently goa.hu has also become involved with its coordination.
R33, tucked away on the huge industrial territory of Közvágóhíd, is the residence of the prog-psy Psychedelia Crew. It’s where almost every Hungarian team has turned up in the past few years, e.g. the Inner Sanctum crew or the international collaboration, Problem Children & Visionary Minds, who have recently relocated their headquarters to the city-center, and can be now found on the rooftop of the Corvin department, at Corvintető, or in the throbbing communal space of MÜSZI on the same floor. Some of the events hosted here were organised by alloyed.net, radiOzora and Totem.
After a year-long pause, the 4.49 Gathering is back again. The open-air dark/psytrance festival started in 2008 and mainly features Hungarian artists but also offers lectures, workshops, art and various outdoor activities. This year, Inner Sanctum, former Inner Waves, promises to bring the same atmosphere, especially to the lovers of darkpsy. A new initiative, the Samsara Psychedelic Yoga Village & Psytrance Music Festival offers 120 workshops, séances and lectures, 90 artists and DJs on the Chill, Alternative and World Music stages. The third S.U.N. gathering organised this summer promises to be more than just a gathering of united solar natives. With the changes introduced in 2015, it has set a green foot on the path of growing into a community of like-minded and environmentally conscious people. This year there will be no tickets sold at the gates of the Csobánkapuszta venue as it is transforming into a ‘members-only’ event with a limited number of visitors, who can expect the usual quality in music and a range of other programs as well. The Hungarian festival season closes with O.Z.O.R.A. Festival in 2015 again, which has taken huge steps towards deservedly being called an all-artistic psychedelic gathering. Artists, lecturers, artisans and performers from all over the globe await you with a growing fleet of movement, healing, arts and crafts workshops and lectures. The four stages of this year’s officially 7-day-long event (opening with a special Goa Gil 24+ Hour pre-party) feature the broadest range of music ever. Musically, the past twenty years have also brought us internationally active artists, such as Aurafood, Para Halu, Hadron Orchestra, Kalumet, 1rgum3urgum, Flanger Strangers, PsyCrow, Skarma, Snag, Chromatic, SHX, DJ Tsubi, Gorgo, Wegha, Oleg, Dr Space, Jirzij. There’s no doubt: Hungary is not a transit country on the psychedelic map, it’s a destination.
Authors: – novishari – & – olrajt –
(The Ozorian Prophet)