Event: Hungary - Miskolc

International Dixieland Festival

When:	Jul 2008 (annual)
Where:	Miskolc

This popular annual festival, first held in 1985, gathers together the best Hungarian musicians and many from the international circuit to perform in Miskolc, in north-east Hungary. The Benkó Dixieland Band, under indefatigable leader and clarinettist Dr Sandor Benkó, is the festival's regular house band, here joined by an array of other Dixie-playing enthusiasts at various indoor and outdoor venues around the town, including Diósgyor Castle.

The Benkó Dixieland Band was formed in 1957 and have released (so far) 56 albums, with an astonishing 85 hours'-worth of television appearances. The line-up is trumpeter Bela Zoltan, trombonist and vocalist Ivan Nagy, pianist and vocalist Vilmos Halmos, banjo-player Jeno Nagy, bass-player Zsolt Kelemen, drummer Gábor Kovacsevics and leader Sandor Benkó.