The word on mouth was right for Noches de Hungria. Various people spoke to me in a good way about the event. Most of them, women who they were not looking for a partner as the registration was single registration. I took the decisions with all the comments in mind but I didn’t have special expectations. At the end, the event was a really nice surprise for the atmosphere.

One of the good point of this marathon was the dance room and his arrangement. I knew the event is a big one and I was sure to find a big dance floor. However, there was more than just a dance floor. There was a lot of space all around to sit and speak with people. To be more precise, you could find a first raw of comfortable armchairs and sofas, a corridor to let people walk, stay stand to look at the dances and a second raw of sofas. If you add the lights, some additional decoration like the candles and the air conditioning keeping the right temperature, it was the perfect place to mix dance and social interactions.

I spent also a lot of time wandering all around the dance floor to chat or to invite. I was not alone. Men were not standing all at the same spot and there was also freedom for the women. The comment of a girl confirmed my impression when she said she didn’t feel any forbidden place. The other good effect of various invitation spot is also people were entering all around the dance-floor, so no slow traffic. After, regarding the navigation, there was good and bad. For my last tanda, I was between the worse and the best.

The number of participants was high but fit well to the location. There mix was good. Thinking quickly, all Europe was represented. I was really surprised to see 3 other dancers from Belgium – I really didn’t expect to see them here – and maybe a dozen of girls from Moscow. The organizers did well with the selection in terms of atmosphere also. From what I heard, it was far better than the previous year. Women were also really happy with the leaders as you had an important number of good dancers open to dance, so a lot of options.

Even with all these dancers, I think I spent more time than usually to speak with people and  I didn’t dance with a lot of new dancers. It is maybe the fact I didn’t see some friends since a long time as we didn’t have the same destinations this year. Let’s say it is easily one year I didn’t meet some women from Southern countries. At the end, I was very surprised to dance with only one girl from Budapest (I asked around, I was not alone).

My “minus” about the event will go for the food at night: a lot of people and really few places to eat. Quality was nice but conditions were not good to enjoy it. While I was sharing a cab with dancers on the arriving, we were already talking about food in general. I think we had all the same conclusion “Why events in big cities spend energy with dinner when there are so many places to go in the city ?”. Dinners are often not so great (for various conditions and here in particular, the location to eat). Brunch is quite different as you have not the big rush of the dancers. Anyway, brunch was nice and fruits as snacks were delicious.

About the DJ, hum not this time… I heard just half of them. Saturday was a great day with Konrad Krynski and Karolina TK. I stayed from the brunch to almost midnight. Just after the dinner, I had two solutions, stay a little more and go to bed after a really long day or go home to change and come back. But I know I will not come back with the second option. So I decided to stay a little more for the music and for the space. It was a really good moment where you don’t have so many people but everybody is very opened.

At the end, I had a really good time, just too short.

Prices:

marathon pass – 110 €

Free water, coffee, tea.

A little shop with additional food and drink at first floor.

Food:

Snacks and really nice fruits.

Brunchs and warm meals at night.

Accomodation:

Some recommendation on the website http://noches.hu/ and a lot of options in the center.

Thanks to Tatyana Matveyeva for the pictures. You can find the full album here: https://www.facebook.com/tatatangophoto/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1183811961709492