Every year, the best underground bands, theatres, and the majority of the NGO scene gather in a small lakeside village in Hungary. Participate in the country’s leading socially conscious small festival as a volunteer!
Partner
Bánkitó is Hungary’s biggest independent, socially conscious, cultural and community festival with a wide range of programmes throughout its three days (10-13 July 2024) in the summer from music through theatre to contemporary art. The festival is located in the countryside and hosts 8000 visitors each year. It offers concerts, theatre performances, exhibitions, civil initiatives, workshops, and round-table discussions about social justice issues, human rights, and the experiences and cultures of minorities. It takes place at Bánkitó, a small Hungarian village 60kms away from Budapest.
The music at the festival is progressive, contemporary, and constantly renewing, with the newest and most exciting bands of the Hungarian music scene. The civil/cultural programs always poke at important and actual topics, working towards understanding society’s issues with activists from NGOs, musicians, actors, and artists. Contemporary Hungarian theatre pieces will be showcased, and Hungary’s most exciting contemporary artists will transform the shores of Lake Bánk into an art exhibition.
Work
We are looking for volunteers to help run the festival through its preparational works (July 5-15). The volunteers will do construction work, drilling/heavy objects, etc. Work equipment will be provided. After the preparational work, you’ll be free to enjoy the festival and take part in all events.
Accommodation and food
You will live in tents during the festival and you are asked to bring your own tent (we can provide some if needed). We provide 2 meals/day for you (hot meals for lunch and breakfast). A vegetarian option is available. We provide all the equipment needed to fulfil your tasks.
Location and leisure
Bánk is a tiny village in Nógrád County with its not-so-tiny Lake Bánk in the middle. It has everything a tiny village built around a lake could need: a small store, a tobacco shop, a pizza place, a pub, some hotels, motels and a lakeshore eatery. Plus the extremely friendly locals. Bánkitó Festival has been in town for 12 years, mostly around the Lakeshore and the Camp, though throughout the years, we ventured out to settle around the Reeds and the Meadow. Besides the lake, the small wooden cabins and the venues hiding around small clearings throughout the enclosing forest make Bánkitó the festival it is.
All this around the picturesque Lake Bánk, a one-hour car ride or half-day bike trip away from Budapest.
About the Festival
The programme of the festival is always organized around a common theme. In 2024, the topic will be Mind-Splitting. This year, the Bánkitó Festival explores how we perceive the world we live in. Are you frustrated by too much information and yet you're indecisive? War or terrorism? Meat or vegetables? Who is the oppressor and who is the oppressed? Left or centre? Let's not even talk about the right. Activism, or are you over it? Go with fashion or go against it? But isn't it fashion to go against fashion? It must be normal to feel like you have seven selves at once. But what's normal? The theme of this year's Bánkito Festival is mind-splitting.
Travel
You need to travel by train from Budapest to Bánk. The easiest way is to go to “Újpest Városkapu” in Budapest, where you can start a journey to Rétság then change a bus there to Bánk. There is almost every hour a bus, but we suggest to arrive the latest to Újpest at 5 pm. It takes around 1 hour from the airport to Újpest-Városkapú by the airport bus and metro (M3), plus 1,5 hours to Bánk.
Requirements
You should be fit enough for physically demanding work. No special documentation is necessary. No COVID-19 vaccine requirements. No language requirements, but we require a way to communicate with the organizers in Hungarian or English. Please bring clothes that you won’t regret getting dirty during construction, your sleeping bag and personal medicine.
Please send us a motivation letter focusing on why you would choose to work on the festival, and what kind of related skills or previous experiences you have had at the chosen field, for example doing physical work (construction and demolition) on warm summer days. You do not need any special skills to volunteer at the festival.
