The Dozer Festival will run from January 10 until February 23, says organiser Zoltán Jakab. A number of big Hungarian acts are to perform, among them Mystery Gang, Tereskova, Korai Öröm and Heaven Street Seven. A band from California, Mad Caddies, is also on the programme.
The local council is demolishing the building because of a programme to create more parks in the area. The plan has been known for several years, but a final decision on tearing the building down was taken only in September 2007. Still, the local council has not yet officially informed the Kultiplex's management.
Kultiplex executive director László Dirner said the only way the Kultiplex's home could be saved is if it is listed with the National Office for the Protection of Listed Buildings.
Jakab says that even if the building is torn down, the Kultiplex will reopen at a new location with an unchanged profile.
The critic Tibor Bakáts Settenkedő, a regular at the Kultiplex, notes that similar venues are allowed to flourish in big cities such as Berlin and Paris. In this respect, Budapest is quickly falling behind and is in a worse position now than Bratislava, he said.
