The second day of the Campus Festival started more slowly than usual, but Danko Jones literally kicked off the party just before 8 PM. Azariah, the festival’s biggest draw, played in front of a massive crowd.
In the afternoon, around 4 PM, the Campus area seemed so deserted that it looked like only the preparatory work was going on at the various festival venues. A festival-goer walking past me remarked that ‘there are more fences here than people.’ This state persisted until 7 PM, and I honestly began to worry that this party wouldn’t take off…
At 5 PM, the relatively big Hungarian band Blaha Lujziana took to the Metal-Sheet Main Stage. It seemed that all the people present on the festival grounds gathered there, filling the area. The singer couldn’t thank the audience enough for their support, coming out in such numbers in the heat and so early.
Since the areas around the stages were still quite empty in the early evening, I decided to check out other festival locations, like the Civil Agora, Visit Debrecen, and the University of Debrecen area. I encountered interesting programs at each location.
At the Civil Agora program stage, Péter Radnai talked with György Rózsa, a legendary Hungarian TV personality, mostly about how the world of television has changed. It’s unimaginable for today’s audience that his TV show used to be watched by 5.5 million people, whereas now, a viewership of 500,000 is considered outstanding.
Meanwhile, at the University of Debrecen stage, crime scene investigators and forensic experts were having a discussion. Next to the stage, a young guy wearing VR glasses was moving something invisible to us. The vibe of the place brought back the university atmosphere in which I also socialized. Due to its open spirit, DE has always been at the forefront of achieving and teaching the latest scientific results.
A little further on, we stumbled upon the successful local business model Maminvent tent, where many people were creating wonderfully beautiful things from leftover leather materials.
Around 7 PM in the evening, the crowd still hadn’t arrived, although there was increasing activity around the stages. At a friend’s suggestion, I visited the Wellington Rock Arena for the Canadian band Danko Jones. I didn’t regret it. The Canadian heavyweights of electronic rock displayed incredible professionalism. Initially, they addressed the barely existent audience person by person, and half an hour later, you could only see that the handful of audience members had swelled massively, and almost everyone was singing the band’s songs.
There were definitely no problems with the audience size for Azariah, who filled the Puskás Arena for three days in the spring. Many were curious about the currently most popular band in the country. Azi and the crew put on a massive concert, and seeing them live, it must be said that their stage presence and well-planned concert concept are likely their secret. A special moment during the concert was when AZI invited Trinidadian singer Queen Omega & the Royal Souls on stage, who had thrown a wild party at the ‘Víztorony’ area foot half an hour before.
The weekend is yet to come, so in the next few days, the crowd will surely arrive at the festival site earlier.
– Vida Virág –
