12 things you didn’t know about Sziget Festival

Now that Sziget Festival has been going on for a while, we thought we’d share a few interesting facts about the most famous Hungarian festival. The following bullet points are based on a quiz by magyarorszagkul.nlcafe.hu.

• The Sziget story started in 1993, with the Diáksziget (Student Island) Festival. In 1994 it was sub-headed Eurowoodstock, and it was called Pepsi Sziget between 1996 and 2001. It is called Sziget Festival since 2002.
• In 1993, a daily ticket cost only 300 forints (~EUR 1), which sounds crazy considering that today even a cup of beer is more expensive.
• In 2011, Sziget was chosen as the best European festival at a poll organised by Yourope (European Festival Federation) and Virtual Festivals Europe.
• To ensure the peace of people living nearby the festival venue, the outdoor concerts must end by 11 pm. Concerts after that are held in special soundproof tents.
• The iconic K Bridge leading to the festival was built in 1955. It originally led to the shipyard and the headquarters of the bridge building company.