After Kálvin Square, in central Budapest, was dug up to build the city's new underground line a few months ago, the Reformed church at the site shifted slightly and a favourite spot for Budapest club-goers - opened eight years earlier - was forced to close as the underground passageway where it made its home was bricked up.
But the team that used to operate "Cha-chi," as many regulars jokingly referred to it, will once again welcome fun-loving crowds at an underground labyrinth in a new location at 63 Bajcsy-Zsilinszky Road, just 80 metres from Nyugati Square.
kultura.hu was given a sneak preview of the venue. (Photos will be published soon, after preparations to open the venue are completed.)
Manager Attila Tihanyi said Twelve Inch would have a capacity to entertain nearly 400 guests at a time, far more than at its former venue at Kálvin Square. Several startling new features are being prepared for the opening party, including life-sized manga drawings, an illuminated dance floor, heart-shaped mirrors, mannequin legs (quite a few of them), coloured walls, a vast quantity of faux fur and a memorial wall dedicated to Örs, a bartender who died in a tragic accident not long before Cha-Cha-Cha closed.
Visitors will be in for a real surprise when they reach the lavatories: walls covered with mirrors in the men's toilet seem like an insignificant novelty compared to the women's toilet, where an operating urinal has been set up in front of the entrance. It will, apparently, serve to keep the girls waiting outside entertained. In the words of our host: "Anyone can act like a man, but it is best if girls learn that it is not always easy to be one."
And this is only the beginning. The design of the new club will constantly evolve, as the management places emphasis on dynamism and regular renewal. There are already plans for a revamp to be made for the autumn season. In advance, I can only say it will be different.
The club promises to maintain the high standards Cha-Cha-Cha is known for, with a top-notch atmosphere and an excellent programme of special events. The only thing they will leave behind is the plastic cups. Thursdays will be dedicated to the classic Cha-Cha-Cha selection of tunes, Fridays will feature DJs Superman vs. Mango and Saturdays will be Negro vs. InfraGandhi.
When Cha-Cha-Cha opened on January 13, 2000, it became the definitive party place for underground Budapest in a short time, not only for Hungarians but also to foreign visitors who read about the venue in tour guides. The 63-square metre space was initially given to the Cha-Cha-Cha team on permanent lease but they had to realise that the "permanent" did not mean permanent. Last March, kultura.hu broke the news about plans to close the venue because of the underground line. The club was shut down during the spring and it disappeared from sight early in the summer.
But now the old team has fully recharged its energies and Cha-Cha-Cha: Twelve Inch is ready to open its doors. What's more, preparations have started to open an additional, smaller venue called Seven Inch.
Author: Zsolt Koren
