Rocking Out At Fezen

Jess and I joined the crowds of music lovers at Székesferérvar’s Hungarian music festival Fezen. Buses were packed to the brim and running every half hour (luckily we arrived by car!) The festival had begun on Thursday and would run till the wee hours of Sunday morning. We chose to attend on Saturday night with our coworker Judit and her husband.

The atmosphere was a mix between (for you Birminghamians) City Stages and Sloss Furnace at Halloween. There were at least four stages with simultaneous performances – complete with light shows and fog. The bands were Hungarian’s most popular - Kispál és a Borz was my very favorite – their music was kind of a mix between alternative and rock with a folksie twist. Of course, all the lyrics were Hungarian – so we couldn’t understand them – though my students say that Kispál’s lyrics are pretty funny. I didn’t want to be pegged as a foreigner so I laughed along with the crowd!

Everywhere you looked there were popcorn stands (chocolate popcorn, butter popcorn, and colorful kettle corn), grilled corn stands, gyro booths, and Hungarian carnival food and beverage tents. Jess and I couldn’t wait to try something new whenever we changed tents to hear a new band!

The crowd was a mix of teens, twenty-somethings, and older adults – and everyone enjoyed the selection of music – some of which was popular when the older adults were teenagers.
I enjoyed so much getting to share my experiences with my students – who seemed excited that I’d gotten to go and enjoyed it. Fezen was the topic of conversation on Monday and Tuesday at school. I’m already excited about the music festival that will be here in the spring. And since downloading is the thing here in Hungary, I can go ahead and learn some tunes!