It was a rare moment, a perfect alignment that almost never happens. Three wind apps; the illustrious Országos Meteorológiai Szolgálat, Hungarian meteo service; EMFCW and EUMETSAT, and even the Slovenian ARSO, plus all good and bad weather sites across the internets were all saying the exact same thing:
Wind is from the south-southeast, 13 km/h.
Yeah, right.
Lies, all lies … The old saying “Lies like a meteorologist!” proved itself yet again.
But since we were there, we’d better go all in … to the bitter end.
And vehemently risking being repetitive to the point of obnoxiousness: one does not really need wind for a kite festival – one needs friends.
And boy there were heaps of friends in Zamárdi, a cute little town perched on the lakefront of Balaton.
“Just a couple more minutes!” screamed Tóni from his cauldron.
“You said that half an hour ago …”
“No, really, it’s minutes now!”
“Yeah, minutes from disaster …”
The simmering strange dish that was being concocted in the cauldron was slambuc. A typical Hungarian shepherds’ meal, hearty and tasty: bacon, lard, potatoes, lebbencs pasta are all thrown together and left to boil, then simmer, then to brown, and is served just before it’s burned. Take it off the open flame too early and it’s not slambuc, leave it just seconds too long and it’s ruined.
Tóni – Antal Bodóczky, a professor at MOME university for artists, designers, and innovators – was getting more nervous by the minute, shaking the pot, adjusting the fire, spreading his nostrils to catch that elusive perfect aroma – making slambuc is art! – and then he finally thundered:
“IT’S DONE!”
A large cauldron of slambuc is perfectly capable of ending World Hunger forever. Its calorie content – its energy density – easily surpasses the most potent of rocket fuels; if they could pack slambuc into a metal cylinder and find a way to light it up, the Hungarian shepherds would be driving cattle across the mountains of the Moon centuries ago …
“I will never be hungry again.”
It was delicious, and after the dinner we were lying in the grass like kites, trying to breathe. Slambuc won.
Égenjáró Nemzetközi Sárkányfesztivál Zamárdi, the “Skywalker” International Kite Festival on the Szabatstrand beach in Zamárdi was about kites and kiters, of course – but it was also a celebration of the astonishing legacy of one of Hungary’s most incredible artists, kite makers, inventors, and teachers:
István Bodóczky.
(Yeah, Tóni is his son.)
The life of Professor Bodóczky is worthy of a book or two, and a movie about him wouldn’t be a boring one. He graduated as a painter from the Hungarian Academy of Fine Arts, got an art teacher’s diploma, married a British beauty (mind you, this was the deepest “socialism” time!), got into kites, established the first Hungarian kite club, travelled all over the world (again, getting a passport back then was really really hard – and suspicious in itself), had his kites exhibited in Budapest, Dieppe, Berlin, Belgium …
He was a great teacher, a mentor and a guide – for children, and for adults. He showed untold generations not just how to make kites, but how to express oneself in terms of art; how to transcend fear and shame, how to find art deep in the mind and the soul, and let the imagination fly. And he found immense joy in teaching and working with underprivileged kids in the most remote parts of Hungary. He was striving to combine art, kites, and teaching – and he accomplished that flawlessly.
His books – Sárkányépítés (Kite building), Papírsárkány (Paper kites), Hidden symmetry – are all legendary, and he wrote about his life and work in a short My way of kiting (that is well worth a click!).
“When I make an artwork, I do not take into consideration how I could make it fly. I strongly believe that if I find it good as an artwork, it will fly.”
Just look at this:
Yes, it’s a kite. Yes, it flies. Yes, it is art. So is this one:
And this one:
An exhibition of his mesmerising, impossible kites was held in the culture bubble of ZAM!art, a modern architecture marvel on the Balaton lakefront. Well, kites … his work is a merger of art and flying, transcending both:
The otherworldly bubble of ZAM! ART exhibition space was perfect for these otherworldly, aethereal pieces of flying art.
“I have realized my kites don’t fly, they float – and so do I when I hold the line …”
Exactly. Thank you, Professor Bodóczky, you legend – here is one to you!
“We respectfully ask the international kite flyers to please show more enthusiasm …”
Zamárdi is a most pleasant town, leafy and airy, with old (and new) villas, patios and gardens behind high and thick hedges. The Hungarian sea whispers, the light is bright and warm, the people cool. It’s beautiful and bustling; every private and especially every public space is meticulously taken care of, its culture life is vibrant, the playgrounds are full of kids, its bars and pubs and restaurants are buzzing …
Seems the municipality knows what it is doing. Like helping put together a kite festival.
István. Kati, Tóni, and the others, all the volunteers, helpers, and sponsors were busting their asses for months to make it perfect: the base camp at ZAM!, an ideal, huge kite flying field, fantastic kite workshops for kids, an art/kite exhibition, a talk show, plus the incredible food and copious amount of drinks –
– and then the festival crashes into the thick lies of meteorologists …
The “wind” – that is, a barely perceptible movement of a molecule here and a molecule there – was definitely not coming from the south (nor from anywhere else to be honest).
But we went out there and did our best. The only ones that care about the success of a kite festival at least as much as the organisers, if not more, are the kite flyers.
We pulled and ran and observed the clouds and the leaves, confidently telling each other that the wind will definitely come at twelve / one / three / half past four / at six / later in the evening / tomorrow… until we dropped down, admitted defeat and went for a cold one. At least the workshops were full of kids and their contagious energy …
But even if the kites are lying all over the place in small heaps of misfortune and sadness – there is László! And Gyuri! And Ferenc! And Lubica and Andrea, and Zoltán, and Balazs, and Aga and Bartek! Friends are here, who needs the wind! Cheers!
Kites were down, but we were all flying high.
“You bastards …”
– Norbert, to us, just before we hit the road back to Ljubljana
If you are making fun of people, prepare to have people make fun of you. Like Norbert who was just messing with us, because we were leaving for Ljubljana and he was studying there and fell in love with our city (while Anouk fell in love with the wolf sculpture by Jakov Brdar there) – and he really really wanted to come with us.
Or telling László to shout to the waiter for another round – and then László telling Gregor to avoid that guy in white T-shirt at all cost, and then Zoltán baffled why Gregor is always running away from him.
Or not missing any opportunity to tell Lubica and Andrea that “we were never invited” to their festival in Slovakia – it starts in less then two weeks and it’s gonna be great! – until they magnificently pretended that they were so pissed with us that only a couple of cocktails could soothe them …. “and make the gintonic double!”
Kite flyers are different … one theory – that was developed right here on the shores of Balaton – is that it is a strange disease that compels the infected to advertise his affliction: flying kites so other sufferers see it and come to congregate.
One of the symptoms of this disease is that when a kite flyer meets another, they become best friends in a matter of minutes. Every kite festival enlarges your group of friends with new ones, sometimes substantially: we got at least five of those in Zamárdi!
And then … discussing the subtle differences of meaning of the word “punca” in Slovene and in Hungarian. Discovering that Aga and we are Facebook friends for so long our Facebook kids go to school together! Debating art, history, kite workshop tricks, past adventures, and life deep into the night. Laughing, poking fun at, having fun with … and guessing what is in the bottle Kati got – homemade jaegermeister or homemade teran liqueur – but insisting she must not share it with anybody, not even her father, as it (whatever it is) is so good only she deserves it.
“Now I really have to go to bed …”
“One more for the .. stairs?”
“Sure, why not.”
Laughing deep into the night under the starry sky of Zamárdi …
Speaking of Istváns, legends: there was another on those green kite fields of Zamárdi: István Komjathy with his legendary dopero.
This István, Komi to friends, is a fantastic kite aerial photographer. Zoltán Majernik is a fantastic kite aerial videographer. Then there was Gyuri, Ferenc, and a couple of other KAPers: basicaly a rather intimidating group of KAP masters – and us.
And there was absolutely no way our Original Blue rokkaku would lift the camera.
Even Ferenc threw in the towel and went for a cold one …
The legendary dopero went up the thermals only because István was running like madman, narrowly missing people …
… almost kissing the trees …
… and nearly avoiding crashing the camera into the ground.
But we got Anouk! 🙂
Norbert’s dog is such a sweetie … another cool friend we’ve made in Zamárdi!
Still, a master is a master:
We – that is, our camera on István’s kite – managed to get this:
An exhausting (and in terms of height reached not so satisfying KAP session) – but it was an absolute fun!
It was a real pleasure meeting the masters in person (we’ve never met Zoltán in real life!), debating the rigs, lines, kites, techniques, mishaps and adventures, and whatnot. And it was a real honour having our camera lifted by the István’s dopero – and flying this legendary kite.
Look how proud we are! 😉
Well, what more can we say … We spent two fantastic days with a bunch of so pleasant, interesting, caring, fun, cool people … Two days in such a beautiful place, on such a great festival, with so many friends … It truly was a perfect weekend that ended way too soon.
Thank you, Zamárdi!
The municipality and the polgármester, Gyula Csákovics!
The sponsors and providers; ZAM! ART a kultbuborék; ZAM Zamárdi and the girls and guys running the place; Pizza Pazza; PartON Bistro; Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design Budapest; all the volunteers, helpers, workshop masters, and of course the kids that made so many so beautiful kites; our hosts in a nice old zamárdian villa with a beautiful garden; Norbert for al the help and for incredible drone footage; and to Hello Wood company for the truck.
All the friends, old and new, that we had the pleasure to fly kites – and having so much fun with – in Zamárdi!
And first and foremost – thank you, Kati, István, and Tóni. You are the best.
Köszönöm szépen!
Nice post and would like to visit this place.
One Festival is not enough for the long ride south from my home. Is there another one to join near the great place of Balaton?
I.d like to meet other kapers, too – although I.ve stopped KAPing.
Of course, it’s a bit far from you … but we don’t know about other nearby festivals (apart form the one in Slovakia on October 3 and 4) – it would be best to ask Istvan or Laszlo …