2026 edition

I've been to 4 Budafest so far. It is an amazing event, and one of my favourites. The good: Competition level A lot of high skill dancers Focus workshops Winner JnJ Party till morning Communication Organization Location Punctuality All of them are top notch! The bad: 1) I dont fully recomend if you are a newcomer and very empathic. Because it is the biggest competition event, most people are (too) focused on competition. They are "hunting" same or high skill level dancer. You can feel the disappointment when they randomly pick a low skill dancer on socials. The vibe of the event is improving on Sunday when people come back to the "joy of the dance" ❤️. Once you are better skilled, the "hunting" sensation is fadding. You become the hunted 😅 Hence why on the hallway and next to the teacher room, you can find a more densitiy of high skill people who are staying in groups and select who they will dance with 🤮 2) Workshops groups are a bit too big/crowded. 3) If there are too many dancers in one workshop level, no chance you will get upgraded. They have a strict limit of people per group. In 2024 teachers weren't even looking for the first two songs of the audition as they didn't had enough bracelets. They spoke only between them. Almost pointless to have auditions on some group levels so you are forced to compete in order to have points for your dedicated level. Overall I still recommend this event. From my POV, is the 2nd best event in Europe.

2026 edition

Big event. Everyone's there. All the variety! Sometimes you don't see people until the last evening, so lots of discovery of new people you haven't danced with! I'm a late-night social dancer, and the comps take a long time, but it's Buda 🤷‍♂️. The parties go solidly until morning which is great, and the breakfast is really good, esp when you go with the other survivors, there're usually plenty to hang with, and people are welcoming if you ask to join them too! The hotel has a weird thing where it's mandatory to pay for food credit (per person in the room) but you just use that for breakfast and it works out. Main floor is huge, and the acoustic downstairs is always nice for a change of pace, it's usually packed. Plenty to do in the city, great for exploring, really pretty area, and great variety of food around. Cookie Beacon is a must. I've gone a few years in a row now, and while I love small events, this is THE big event to go to in Europe - all the people are there.

2026 edition

It's one of the biggest event in Europe and everyone should atleast try it out whenever they get a chance. It might feel overwhelming seeing so many amazing dancers together but it's a hell of an experience

2026 edition

The event was absolutely fantastic. I loved every bit of it. Teachers were superb and classes were great. I loved that everyone had wristbands of the same colour and in the classes we had coloured cards with our names on them. The vibe was very nice and cozy, social dancing was amazing. The event felt well-balanced, the floor was good, the music was great as well. Competitions were well organised, there was additional Am/Pro J&J which was nice! The prizes were also very nice - finalists got glass bottles with Finnfest logo and the top 3 winners got full passes to various events (even Newcomers!). The MC Lauren Jones was an absolute legend! Overall, absolutely recommended and I’m definitely going back!

2026 edition

Great event with many international dancers to dance with, famous teachers, great location, floor and music. The organization was flawless and the team is so kind. I'm attending next year's event as well.