Győr’s biggest student festival is already in its second day at Széchenyi István University, and after a two-year break, the main focus is back on fun on the campus. After a warm-up on Tuesday, the event was in full swing on Wednesday, and is set to kick into high gear from today, with the upper and lower floors of the Bridge and the courtyard tent also set to fill up with performers in the coming days.

A university festival on campus - that's the short and sweet way to describe the Széchenyi University Days (SZEN), which has truly become a festival in recent years. During the day, students can enjoy a colourful programme of games, activities and sports, while in the evening, the country's most popular performers and DJs offer unforgettable party experiences. Everything you would expect from a festival: a professional set-up with a chill park on the grassy area in front of the Halls of Residence, stalls and a festival tent. And, of course, the most important thing of all: ATMOSPHERE.

The chill park is the base for festival-goers to relax during the day (Photo: Márton Horváth)

"Our aim was to have a great party where everyone can have a good time," Márton Maczkó, president of the University Students’ Union told our portal.

The two-year hiatus due to the pandemic (SZEN was last held in 2019 due to restrictions - Ed.) has not so much dampened as increased the students' willingness to participate.

"Everyone has missed this event," continued the President. "The first and second year students hadn't experienced it yet, they had only seen photos, videos, heard stories from the upper years... and they were eager to experience it themselves. We didn't even have to advertise much, as we could see there was a huge interest," he said, adding that this was also reflected in ticket sales, as the organisers had their most successful sales period ever, with more than 900 tickets sold during the discounted period.

The Győr leg of the Local Hero tournament was held at SZEN. (Photo by Márton Horváth)

The SZEN - which is incidentally the precursor of the Hungarian festival season and Győr's biggest young people’s event - lasts almost a week, from Tuesday to Saturday. Although teaching is ongoing at the university, the agreement with the Students’ Union has also this year given students an exam-free week and liberty from signing for attendance at lectures, so there is no obstacle to getting fully immersed in the programmes.

And there is no shortage of programmes. Experience has shown that it is far from being only the music and dance events that attract students, the daytime activities and sports activities are also a big draw.

During these few days, young people can try their hand at some of the popular sports on campus, and the fact that they can also complete their physical education courses with this provides extra motivation.

To give an idea of what is on the menu, there was a football tournament on the artificial pitch, a dragon boat and the traditional Bishop's Forest run. The SZEHero skills competition will take place today on the Aranypart (Golden Riverbank).

Sporting activities are an integral part of SZEN. (Gallery by Márton Horváth, Csaba József Májer)

Asked about the daytime activities, Villő Gaál, head of the Events Management Department at the Helix Student Event Management Office, said that in addition to the traditional events that are a yearly tradition (such as teddy bear making or the ‘beerpong’ tournament), this year's event will also feature a number of new activities.

"My personal favourite is beer yoga, which combines the festival atmosphere with sport, because, as the name suggests, you do yoga with beer in your hand while sipping a drink," said the head of department. "Also this year, for the first time, the giant crossword puzzle and the charity bake sale have been added to the programme. We are very proud of the latter, as the organisers and the students offered us cakes, and many of them gave up half their day to help. We set up an honesty box in the Aula and sold the cakes that way. In the end, we raised over 100,000 forints for charity," she said with understandable pride in her voice.

Photo gallery from Tuesday and Wednesday's daytime events. (Photos by Márton Horváth, Csaba József Májer)

After Tuesday's warm-up, the Bridge opened on Wednesday and the festival kicked off with a rousing party. In the coming days, the student club will not be empty either, with concerts starting today on the big stage in the courtyard. Looking at the music on offer, the organisers have made sure that everyone can find a style that suits them.

This time, a musical retro experience of the 2000s will be SZEN's number one offering, and for the first time in its history, two overseas acts visiting Győr this weekend will feature, Groove Coverage and Cascada, whose hits will be familiar to everyone when they hit the stage.

Of course, the line-up also includes popular artists in line with today's trends - Valmar, Azahriah x Desh and WellHello are among the most notable. The organisers have also thought of electronic music lovers, so the country's most renowned DJs will be providing the soundtrack at the Bridge, including Pixa, Yamina, Viktória Metzker, Willcox and Milán Koósz.

On Saturday, rock music will take centre stage, as following Paddy and the Rats and Road, the “SZEN” festival will close with a Golyó-style rock disco.

Students were already picking up the SZEN beat on Wednesday evening. (Gallery by Márton Horváth, Csaba József Májer)