You can earn a festival pass with just two weeks of student work

By: Trademagazin Date: 2025. 06. 19. 10:59

The countdown begins in schools: on June 20, the letter V will be put on every board to end the vacation. With the start of the two and a half month summer break, the student work sector also gets lively, with the number of applications peaking at this time. Meanwhile, summer festivals are starting one after another, and young people are increasingly willing to take on work in order to cover the – often expensive – entrance fees from their own earnings. All this further increases the interest in summer student work. Students who have reached the age of 15 are taking advantage of the opportunity to work during school breaks, which is often created by their parents’ workplaces. And many people do not know that students studying abroad can also take on student work at home if they have a naturalized full-time student ID card – pointed out Róbert Göbl, head of the Mind-Diák Szövetkezet.

Schools and festivals ring in the bells

With summer, the festival season will soon begin, and those looking to party can choose from countless options: Fishing On Orfű will kick off on June 25, VeszprémFest will start on July 8, the Bánkitó Festival and EFOTT will start the next day, and Debrecen will host the Campus Festival between July 16 and 20. In August, the Sziget Festival (6–11), the Strand Festival in Zamárdi (20–23), and finally the Szeged Youth Days (SZIN) will close the series between August 27 and 30 – just to name a few of the bigger ones.

Hungarian youth continue to participate in large numbers in these summer festivals, but the costs of entrance fees, drinking and accommodation put a significant strain on festival-goers’ wallets. It is no coincidence that many of them save up specifically for the festival season with student work, even if they partly need the support of their parents for this.

Just like first-time festival-goers, “first-time student workers” are also subject to multiple impulses: in addition to getting to know the world of work, they also have to map out their financial opportunities.

“This is when most people open their first bank account, receive their first salary, become familiar with the concept of gross-net income, and it is at this time that they become aware of how much they can earn in a particular job,”

– emphasizes Róbert Göbl, head of Mind-Diák. He then explains: the hourly wage for student work cannot be lower than the current minimum wage, which in 2025 will be 1,672 HUF gross per hour, while the guaranteed minimum wage is 2,005 HUF gross per hour, which can be received by those who are employed in jobs requiring secondary education (i.e. high school diploma) or vocational qualifications. This amount is received by those under 25 as net income thanks to the personal income tax exemption.