A38

A38 occupies a former Ukrainian stone-carrier ship moored beside Petőfi Bridge on Budai alsó rakpart in Budapest. Built in Kyiv in 1968 as Tripolie, the vessel was converted in Révkomárom, with renovation starting in 2002. The venue opened on April 30, 2003, on the Buda side of the bridge; saxophonist Maceo Parker performed at the opening. Attila Bognár initiated the project and became its founder and co-owner, inspired by the Batofar, a music venue on the Seine in Paris.

The ship measures 85 metres by 15 metres and holds about 1,000 people. Its main hall accommodates 650, with a 12-by-6-metre stage and a ceiling four metres high. Sound insulation and acoustic planning, developed with the Budapest University of Technology and Economics acoustics laboratory, serve the hall; its PA uses equipment from NEXO’s Alpha range. Bars, a restaurant, roof terraces and a 100-person bow studio are also aboard. Summer programming includes club concerts and parties on the terraces. A floating structure added in 2010 provides exhibition and performance space and later became a Petőfi Radio studio.

Music programming ranges across jazz, rock, world music and electronic music, alongside theatre, exhibitions and film screenings. Bladerunnaz has promoted events at A38, where artists including Markov, Incident, Gemcamp and Sin have performed. The venue joined Liveurope in 2014. In 2025, its terrace stage received an HK Audio Contour X system for electronic-music performances. A38 received the Best of Budapest & Hungary award for live-music venue in 2010; in 2012, a Lonely Planet poll named it the world’s best bar, and Electronic Beats voters chose it as the world’s best entertainment venue.