Three days, fifteen concerts, a bunch of Hungarian rock legends and so many familiar names that you sometimes check the year at the corner of the poster.

From 7 to 9 August, the national rock- and metal-life veteran task force will move back to Fonyód. The location of the RockBalaton 2026 is this time the Sunshine Club, where from afternoon to late evening there will be a distorted guitar next to Lake Balaton.

The program is basically strong. Still, it's hard to get rid of the feeling that we've heard this record before. More than once.

Friday: From warm-up straight to the Poet

The festival was held at 3: 30 p.m. Dreams of Insomnia Open. Early beginnings are an ungrateful genre: even the first beer has not decided whether to be refreshing or breakfast, and half of the audience is trying to find themselves somewhere between the beach, accommodation and the concert venue. The task of the opening band is still important: to prove that there is guitar music at half past four in the afternoon.

They're coming after the Sing Singwhich in itself is an invaluable development. The songs of the band come from a time when Hungarian Hard Rock was not ashamed to use both large refrens, leather trousers and some healthy exaggerations. It's not world redemption, it's honest rock'n'roll - and sometimes that's exactly what we need.

M National Sound 18: 30 is the time to move an audience of a different kind, and then it arrives at Karthaway. We're gonna stop here for a second. The place of Karthago in the Hungarian rock story is indisputable, but in a metal festival's main show on Friday night, it still seems like an impeccable Ikarus at a VA meeting. It's nice, prestigious, everyone knows it - just not necessarily what we expected.

And then at 10: 45, ExplosiveAnd the world order will be restored. If there is a band that does not have to explain on the main stage of a Hungarian metal festival, it is the Poker Machine. There will no longer be a need for fine tune-up: classic riffs, together with howling refrens and the kind of primordial force to which the Wave of Balaton is merely background noise.

Friday Programme

Saturday: the strongest and best assembled day

On Saturday Messenger She starts her shift, then 17: 00 to Down For Whatever He's finally opening a window to the present. One of the most important performances of this festival can be theirs, not necessarily because they have the most classical songs, but because they remind us that after 1992 in Hungary there were also serious guitar music.

Modern sound, metalcorean momentum and tight production are a refreshing counterpoint for the weekend with veterans. We need more of this bold move for RockBalaton.

The sequel Hammer He is actually an independent genre institution. There are few Hungarian vocals that can be recognized so quickly, and even fewer performers can choose from such a lifetime. After that, Ossian Next, where the high fists are guaranteed, the flawless-known refrens and at least one moment when a large part of the audience gets emotional and then pretends to be something that just went into his eyes.

The evening of Depression Close. This is a logical decision: the band's concerts are accurate, strong and public-moving. They don't have misunderstandings, they don't have a 20-minute meeting before the next song - they arrive, they start the machine, and they grind down the area outside the stage.

If only one day can be chosen, it is likely that Saturday will be the winner in terms of professional and volume.

Szombathely

Sunday: acoustic awakening of the P To mobile

The Sunday starts at 15: 30. Rudán Joe acoustic concert At first hearing, it's an unusual choice for the last afternoon of a three-day rock festival. But at second hearing, it makes sense. By this time, if you've been living on beer and fiery and foot drums for two days, it might be better to have a gradual return to the line of the living.

M Dalriada At 17 o'clock, it finally brings a small stained color, momentum and historical storm into the program. They are among the few performers who not only offer a new dose of classical Hungarian hard rock, but also build their own world on stage.

The Ancient P. Box and Miklós Varga pairing is already a rock-history specialty. A little time travel, a bit of meeting with songs that meant the Hungarian rock for generations. After them, Carpathia the following, and at 22: 30, P Mobile He's gonna close the whole weekend.

Schuster Lórant's band practically survived the system change, the music industry collapse, the CD, MP3s, streaming and probably some smaller Earth-history periods. A P Mobile is not a simple act: it is a permanent natural phenomenon. There he was, there he is, and there's a good chance he'll be there when we arrive at RockBalaton as holograms.

Sunday Programme

It's good - it's just too familiar

RockBalaton is easy to love. There is no 20-minute walk between two concerts, there is Lake Balaton in the background, and on stage there are bands whose songs are known from outside the audience.

But this security is starting to become a problem.

If we put the previous programs together, it would appear that the same names go around. The 2024 RockBalaton has already played Depression, National Voice, Ossian, Messenger, Carpathia, P. Cell phone and the IED. In the 2023 offer there was also Ossian, Depression, Carpathia and Poker. This is no longer a simple continuity, but rather a rather narrow circle. (Programme 2024, Programme 2023)

And make no mistake, these are good bands. Some of them are legendary, some of them still have outstanding concerts. It's not that they're here. The problem is that they barely show up with new names, unexpected pairings or less visible productions.

Where's one? AWS, Lazarvs, Road, Moby Dick, Watch My Dying, The Southern Oracle, Mudfield, Stubborn, Ørdøg or SubscribeWhere are the young bands that can take over the stage in a few years? Why can't there be at least one really surprising performer a year, a foreign guest or a special concert for which someone from across the country is going to Fonyód?

Down For Whatever's a good way to go. Dalriada also breaks the dominance of classical hard rock. But two swallows don't make pogo yet.

Shall we go now or shall we growl?

Both.

Let's get grumpy, because RockBalaton could be a braver festival. He has his location, his past, his audience and his name in order not only to choose from the vets of domestic rock life that can be mobilized.

Then let's go, because the Bomber is still at Lake Balaton. Because the Depression is probably breaking down the stage again. Because we're singing the Ossian's chorus even if we have solemnly sworn that we really want something new now. And because there are few better things than a hot Lake Balaton day at the end of the first decent guitar riff.

The RockBalaton 2026 is not a revolution. More like a well-known, slightly worn, but still lovable leather jacket.

It's just time to sew some new spots on it. And throw away these terrible Al posters.

RockBalaton 2026 - information

Tickets and official information