The story of West-Balkán started in 2001, at Kopaszi-gát. It was the first open-air club in the city, which however far from the center it moved, we’d always flocked to. And it moved often, every two or three years.
But since late 2009, we no longer have to look for it in derelict parts of Budapest, as West-Balkán found its new home bang in the center.
West-Balkán has always been a lot more than a club, it’s a cultural center where you can also drink and dance. In 2010 it re-opened atop the old socialist department store, Skála Metró (you know the one, the massive, glass-covered building opposite Nyugati Railway Station), thus becoming the largest ever venue in West-Balkán’s history. And this venue is for keeps, or, at least, they have a lease for the next ten years. And if you count carefully, that’s enough for another generation to grow up at West-Balkán.
But why do we love the place? Well, partly because we always have, and partly because it never stops improving. The new site is still under construction, but you can see the changes from week to week. The first party we went to was the FUNZINE New Year’s Eve bash, and now you can’t tell it’s the same venue. The third floor already looks and feels like a proper club, with space for 900 people.
And what can you do here if you’re one of those 900, besides drinking reasonably priced tipples, chatting to your mates and watching the world go by below? On Wednesdays, there’s the most established act of the Hungarian party scene, Rewind and their guests. Thursdays are for live gigs: watch out for Bori Péterfy, Frenk and Eszter Takáts in the coming weeks. On Fridays, you might want to dance to some easy electornica (Deck Attack, anyone?), and rumour has it that as of May 8th, Saturdays will provide what many of us above a certain age have been praying for: proper old-school disco, where you don’t have to know the latest one-hit wonders, but can boogie to your old favourites in whatever unflashy way you want to.
And come summer, you’ll have a massive terrace on the 3rd floor, where you can dance under the stars and city lights, or just sit outside the downstairs café, which will also spread out to the now not so fab benches of Nyugati tér. Oh, and you can also watch the Champions League and coming FIFA World Cup matches, as well as theatrical plays in the autumn. Sounds like West-Balkán was worth waiting for? Just imagine what it’ll be like when the construction works are all over… As it’s pretty close to perfect as it is now.
West-Balkán