Dear Turbina community!

The enjoyment of music, a sense of belonging, and time spent together are fundamental human needs. Clubs, concert venues, and community spaces provide these. They offer safe meeting points, cultural experiences, personal connections, and livelihoods for tens of thousands of people nationwide.

In recent times, certain official measures, raids, and public statements have emerged that may give the impression that actors within music and club culture are responsible for the social problem of drug use, and that increased scrutiny of them could curb it. We firmly reject this conflation and oversimplification.

Drug use is a complex, global social phenomenon that concerns us as well. However, closing down or stigmatizing cultural spaces is not a solution to these issues. Especially since responsible venues work with expertise, within regulated frameworks, and in cooperation with the authorities to ensure that leisure activities remain safe within their walls.

We are shocked to see that current regulations allow even law-abiding venues that cooperate with authorities to be rendered unviable, based on claims that are unproven or cannot be proven. We are aware that the legislation grants discretionary powers to authorities, yet in the cases made public so far we find the application of the law opaque, fear-inducing for guests and workers alike, and counterproductive due to the lack of cooperation with venues.

We are convinced that the harassment of music venues and disproportionate enforcement misses the mark: it does not meaningfully reduce drug use, but instead eliminates safe, value-creating environments and jobs, and in the long run weakens Hungarian culture as a whole.

For these reasons, we respectfully ask decision-makers to consider amending the current regulation, or at the very least to engage in genuine professional dialogue with representatives of the music and club scene about its lawful and good-faith enforceability.

We, the representatives of the domestic music industry and club culture, initiate such a dialogue. We are open to cooperation, knowledge sharing, and all joint solutions that truly serve the safety and well-being of young people.

The solution begins with dialogue.
Safety is a shared responsibility.
Together for safety, together for culture.

Venues participating in the statement:

Akvárium Klub, Budapest
Amper Klub, Pécs
Analog Music Hall, Budapest
Auróra, Budapest
A38 Hajó, Budapest
Ápoló Klub, Kecskemét
Barba Negra, Budapest
BARhole Music, Budapest
Bánya Kert, Salföld
Budapest Park, Budapest
Búgócsiga Akusztik Garden, Sopron
Boomerang, Mezőkövesd
Club Hollywood, Nyíregyháza
Dürer Kert, Budapest
Expresszó, Veszprém
Fezen Klub, Székesfehérvár
FLOW Music Club, Szolnok
Gödör, Budapest
Grand Café, Szeged
Hangár, Kaposvár
Hangár Music Garden, Sopron
Három Holló, Budapest
Helynekem, Miskolc
Instant-Fogas Komplexum, Budapest
JATE Klub, Szeged
Jedermann, Budapest
Kaleidoszkóp Ház, Esztergom
Kassa hajó, Budapest
Káptalan Kert, Pécs
Kobuci Kert, Budapest
KÖZÖSS(t)ÉG Színpad, Ráckeve
Lumen Kávézó, Budapest
Manyi – Kulturális Műhely, Budapest
Nappali, Pécs
No 1 Szalon, Keszthely
No Milk Today, Szeged
Nyolcas Műhely, Székesfehérvár
Pécsi Est, Pécs
Petőfi Kultúrtanszék, Székesfehérvár
Pontoon, Budapest
Rakpart 62, Szeged
Rock Café, Hajdúszoboszló
Rómer Ház, Győr
Roxxy Music Café, Tatabánya
Shop Stop, Kapuvár
Start Műhely, Gyöngyös
Szabadkikötő, Pécs
Szenes klub, Pécs
Szent Gellért Borház és Vendégfogadó, Makó
Szimpla Kert, Budapest
Terem, Veszprém
Tisza Presszó, Csongrád
Trafo Club, Gödöllő
Turbina Kulturális Központ, Budapest
Városi Rock Klub, Szeged
Végállomás, Szombathely
Zebra Club, Szarvas