Debrecen4U
July 21, 2025
The Campus Festival set a record: more than 120 thousand people visited the Debrecen festival
The festival organisers wrote in their announcement that the festival, held between July 16 and 20, once again attracted over 120,000 visitors, with a record-breaking Saturday attendance of 121,000, over four days, where the liberated festival atmosphere of the old days met the comfort and technology of today.
The closing day will be a real highlight in the history of the Campus Festival, with the programmes attracting a larger crowd than ever before, breaking the 17-year visitor record. During the four-day programme series, international stars such as the electropop duo The Chainsmokers, John Newman, and Jason Derulo, as well as the entire Hungarian top-tier, performed, all under the iconic trees of the Great Forest, in a comfortable, well-organised festival environment that offered both night-long partying and daytime, family-friendly relaxation.
After ten months of organisation and nearly two weeks of construction, the festival opened its doors on July 16th, taking place at 21 different programme locations, with more than 250 musical performers and approximately 1,000 cultural programmes, making the Campus Festival one of the most successful festivals of the summer of 2025.
The announcement pointed out that the festival’s popularity was further increased by the presence of several well-known public and cultural figures, including Olympian Krisztián Berki, András Stohl, Ramóna Kiss, Antónia Erős, television producer Barbara Hámori, and sports manager Mátyás Eszterházy. The diverse programme venues, such as the MBH Bank Rock Arena, the Unipass Stage, the Debrecen University Stage, the Kocsi.hu Stage, Made in Debrecen, the CATL Lighthouse Stage in the Víztoronykert, the Pepsi Music Hall, and of course the Civil Village, all contributed to the diversity of the festival and also provided space for such cult foreign music productions as the American The Dandy Warhols or the British Flux Pavilion.
The organisers also mentioned that the Civilian Village programmes received special attention and represented values such as social dialogue, sustainability, and strengthening local communities. Visitors could encounter programmes such as the “Élő Könyvtár (Living Library), the Sustainability Courtyard, or the interactive stands of local organisations.
The University of Debrecen once again presented its educational, scientific, and community activities in a diverse manner. As a new venue, the Sports Diagnostics, Lifestyle, and Therapy Centre also joined the university programme cavalcade. The presence of other art programmes was an important highlight at the festival, and numerous light installations raised the visual world of the Campus Festival to a new level.
The organisers aim to make Campus not just a musical event but a complex community experience, building on diversity and openness and inclusivity alongside the values of Debrecen. The festival’s programme director, András Süli, put it this way, “Campus is a community space where music, culture, and encounters take center stage.”
This year’s message of the festival, “We look out for each other,” appeared not only as a slogan but was also an important part of the festival’s ethos. As part of this, the Interlude project, which focuses on mental safety, debuted at the festival this year. The organisers took special care to ensure that all festival participants could experience the classic festival experience in a safe, relaxed environment. This year ended practically without any problems; no major intervention was required at the professionally set up First Aid Ambulance, and the professionals treated a total of 180 cases.
At the opening reception on Wednesday, HUF 16 million was raised for the Save Beni Foundation, so the Campus Festival not only entertained but also acted as a socially active and responsible event this year.
The organisers of the Campus Festival highlighted that the restoration of the entire area had already begun at dawn on Sunday, and according to the plans, the Great Forest area will be fully accessible to the people of Debrecen within a few days.
While several major domestic festivals have been cancelled or suspended, the Campus Festival brings in a stable number of visitors year after year and even shows moderate growth, thanks to the cooperation of the city of Debrecen, the University of Debrecen, and local and national partners, among others. The festival, which builds on sustainability, quality, and community values, has now become an unavoidable part of the Hungarian summer.
“The Campus Festival is the work of three thousand people, a popular event for Hungarian music lovers and festival visitors, and a prominent tourist and community asset of Debrecen,” the announcement concluded.
Source:dehir.hu | Photo credit:Campus Festival Debrecen (FaceBook)
