Bánki-tó Music Festival Guide

You might remember that a couple of weeks back, I went to my first small music festival, and y’all, I couldn’t get enough! So continuing in the pattern of small music festivals, the other weekend I went to Bánki-tó Fesztival and boy, do I have a loooooot to tell you (less about the festival and more about the many ways I came close to failing so hard😆). Bánki-tó is pretty small, and I hadn’t hear of it before, so let me catch you up with a little FAQ.
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So this is a festival of toes?

No, not quite! “Tó” is the Hungarian word for “lake”. This festival takes place on the lake in the small town of Bánk, about an hour north of Budapest. Splash around during the day (if there’s not a thunderstorm like there was when we were there😆) and hit up the music by night.

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With mega festival Sziget happening in Budapest, Bánki-tó is a great alternative if you’re looking for a smaller, authentic, local alternative.

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Where can I stay?

Bánk is pretty small with only a few options of hotels/guest houses, so you may as well just pay the ~$10 for camping. There are TWO options: The campground next to Bánki-tó itself, or when that fills up, then you can camp in the neighboring town, Alsópetény. There’s a frequent, free, festival shuttle between the two. I was afraid it’d be too much away from the action but the shuttle ride is only 15 min and the campground is actually quite lovely. It’s on its own little lake, away from the festival noise, and with quite a nice (and cheap) food service for all of your meal needs.

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How do I get there?

The straightforward ways:
1. Festival bus–more expensive (~$10), but goes directly from Budapest to the entrance of the Bánki-tó festival.

2. 30 min. train from Budapest-Vác, then bus 335 from Vác to the festival campground in Álsópétény. Buy the bus ticket on board, cash only, ~$1.80. After setting up camp, hop the 15 min shuttle to the festival!
Find train schedules here. Find bus schedules here (bus 335 from Vác to Alsópetény).

The Denae-who-refuses-to-double-check-details-and-therefore-creates-a-lot-of-unnecessary-problems-way:
Step 1: Confuse Felsőpétény with Alsópetény

Step 2: Live with the consequences.

Y’all, LEARN FROM MY MISTAKES. There are TWO Péténys. Alsópetény is where the campground is. Felsőpétény is 3 km away and there’s no public transportation link between the two. So there we were, dropped at the wrong town, an hour’s walk ahead of us, and thunder rumbling over our heads.

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But then–our deliverance. Normally I’m not one for hitchhiking. But we were a group of four with two strapping young men. So when a white van pulled over, we were thrilled to find that it was actually one of the shuttle buses! I guess they were just on their way to begin their shift, and five minutes later, they dropped us at the campground! We arrived just in time to incredulously enjoy the summer thunderstorm from a very comfy, very dry place. Instead of, you know, being drenched in the side of the road. What a gift from God!

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What kind of music is there?
Many world famous acts gravitate to Sziget, but at Bánki-tó you’ll find lots of local and up-and-coming bands, as well as some smaller international acts. Some of the Hungarian bands have been playing festivals for decades, even, and it adds a lot of fun to the night. I was really excited to get to see Dope Calypso again–I had first seen them at Sziget last year, and they were a big reason that I jumped to buy my ticket to Bánki-tó.

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What’s the festival layout?
The lake the festival is named for hosts only one of the stages. A 15 minute walk down the road will deliver you to the rest of the festival grounds, with all of the other stages/food trucks/info stations, etc.

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I loved the layout and openness of Bánki-tó. And I can’t wait to be back next year–hopefully with better weather. Then I can take a dip in the lake where it all started!
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Would you like to try out this lake festival? Let me know in the comments below!