The MEFOB Festival (MEFOB FESZT) was jointly organized by the Hungarian University Sports Federation and the Széchenyi University with a venue in Győr from April 30 to May 3.

In the past two years, the festival has grown into the largest event in university sports, starting its journey as a test event in terms of complexity and size for the upcoming European Universities Games 2024 in Debrecen and Miskolc. 

From April 30 to May 3, sports took center stage at the Széchenyi István University in Győr, which hosted the 2024 MEFOB FESTIVAL event. MEFOB Festival, the largest festival of university sports, hosts multiple national championships simultaneously along with numerous recreational sports events to highlight the importance of regular sports and its community-building power for university students. The festival's atmosphere is enhanced not only by daytime recreational sports programs but also social and cultural activities during the evenings. 

MEFOB Festival was launched by the Hungarian University Sports Federation in 2022 with the aim of creating a multisport event for university sports where students can not only participate in sports but also cheer and have fun. The first two MEFOB FESZT events were hosted by Miskolc (2022) and Debrecen (2023) to better prepare for this year's hosting of the European Universities Games 2024. The vision of the Hungarian University Sports Federation was to have a different university host the event each year, with Győr being the host for 2024. 

Győr set numerous records during the MEFOB Festival. This year, they hosted Hungarian University Championship finals in 11 sports (water polo, ergometer, ultimate frisbee, futsal, table tennis, cheerleading, rowing, volleyball, chess, dragon boat, and handball), and Cups were held in two sports (8 MEFOBs in Miskolc and 7 in Debrecen). This year's MEFOB Festival saw the participation of  a total of 1448 athletes, 26 universities, with 93 volunteers and 156 organizing assistants ensuring smooth proceedings. Across the 11 MEFOBs at the event, there were a total of 157 medal placements, with 1011 medals awarded.

Juhász Péter, the Secretary-General of the Hungarian University Sports Association, summarized the event as follows: "This year's MEFOB Festival broke numerous records, thanks to the increasing interest in the festival-style sports event, enriched with various supplementary programs and evening parties. The slogan of the event, SPORT, CHEER, ENJOY!, reflects this. The Széchenyi István University in Győr, as the host of the event, did an outstanding job because there was no shortage of sports, cheering, and entertainment. I believe that MEFOB Festival is becoming an increasingly anticipated event for students, aiming not only to promote sports but also to build community. This year, not only did university students compete for championship titles in more sports than ever before, but there were also the most supplementary programs available for those looking to relax during the day or evening. We can be proud of an excellent event where we did everything to make it memorable for the participants, and we invite everyone to join us next year at the MEFOB Festival, which will be hosted by the University of Physical Education celebrating its centenary."

The Cheerleading MEFOB had the largest participation ever, with 13 universities and 247 participants. The University of Pécs had the largest team with 62 members, followed by the University of Debrecen (36 members), Eszterházy Károly Catholic University (31 members), ELTE-SEK (29 members), and the University of Miskolc (27 members). Competition for the World Championship qualification took place in two events: Senior Pom Double category won by Katinka Komjáthy - Blanka Székely, and Senior Hip-Hop Double category won by Petra Tóth - Johanna Zab.

At the 10th Jubilee Ultimate Frisbee MEFOB, the host team from Széchenyi István University made history as the first non-capital team to win this year's participation record-breaking competition (11 university teams with over 150 participants), claiming the national university championship title in Ultimate Frisbee for the first time in the sport's history.

At this year's Table Tennis MEFOB, the University of Pécs dominated, where also a record number of participants attended (nearly 100 athletes from 20 universities), competing in eight different events over two days, with the University of Pécs students claiming the top spot on the podium seven times! At the Rowing MEFOB, taking advantage of the home ground, Győr's university students swept up a total of 10 gold medals. Both at the Rowing and Ergometer MEFOBs, Szabó Bence, the ambassador of MEFOB FESZT, multiple-time European champion, world silver medalist, University World Games and University European Champion athlete, and a student of Széchenyi István University, participated. 

In the Chess MEFOB, individually, 19 institutions, a record number of 79 students and instructors, competed, while in the team event, 8 universities with 10 teams participated. The presence of Hungarian champions, Olympians, and 18 titleholders elevated the competition's level. In the instructor category, Prof. Dr. Sterbenz Tamás, the rector of the University of Physical Education, achieved second place.

The presence of Olympic champion Dr. Tamás Faragó added to the splendor of the Water Polo MEFOB, where, among others, the medalists received their medals from him. The men's Water Polo MEFOB was won by the Budapest University of Technology and Economics, earning an automatic spot in this year's European University Games, hosted domestically in Miskolc. Thus, five Hungarian university teams will be supported this summer in Miskolc.

In the men's Futsal MEFOB, the final repeated last year's match, where the team from the University of Debrecen once again defeated the team from Pécs. However, in the women's category, the host, Széchenyi István University, participating in the sport for the first time, surprisingly won the championship with a significant margin.

In the Dragon Boat MEFOB's first round, the Pécsi Sárkányok entered and left as defending champions in both categories.

At the Handball MEFOB, Lang Zalán, one of the ambassadors of MEFOB FESZT and a handball player for Győri ETO UNI FKC, performed excellently in the Széchenyi István University team, who won the university national championship final.

A record number of 32 teams participated in the Volleyball MEFOB, unprecedented in the last 20 years. This year marked the first inclusion of the semi-finals of the sport in the MEFOB FESZT program.

Regarding the MEFOBs, at MEFOB FESZT 2024, the host Széchenyi István University topped the medal table with 38 medals, followed by the University of Pécs (29) and the University of Physical Education (16).

For more information, please see https://mefs.hu/