More than a month after he disappeared, 21-year-old OZORA Festival crew member Bence Szolnoki has been found dead near the festival grounds.
The festival said the Fejér County Police Headquarters had officially confirmed that Szolnoki’s body was found on Friday outside the festival area. Szolnoki was a member of Ozora’s on-site crew and had been involved in preparing the festival before his disappearance.
“It is with great sadness that we share with the O.Z.O.R.A. community that the body of Bence Szolnoki was found on Friday in a cornfield near the festival grounds,” the organisers said on its official Facebook page.
The festival described Szolnoki as both a colleague and a member of its community, noting that crew members live and work together throughout the months-long preparation period.
“We have lost a colleague and a member of our community,” the organisers said, extending their condolences to his family and loved ones.
Missing since late July
Hungarian police had been searching for Szolnoki since early August. According to an earlier police notice, the 21-year-old from Tahitótfalu travelled to a festival in Tolna County on 24 July for work and was last contacted by a family member on 26 July. Other reports based on information from his relatives said he was last seen at the O.Z.O.R.A. Festival in late July.
His disappearance prompted an extensive search involving police, volunteers and civil search teams, with parts of the area around the festival repeatedly searched in the weeks that followed. The organisers expressed their condolences to Szolnoki’s family and loved ones, saying his death was particularly painful because of his close connection to the festival team.
No official information has yet been released about the cause or circumstances of his death, and the discovery was first announced publicly by the festival on Sunday.
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Third death connected to this year’s Ozora
Szolnoki’s death is the third linked to this year’s O.Z.O.R.A. Festival, although the circumstances of the three cases are different and there is no known connection between them.
Earlier in August, a 45-year-old American man died after climbing onto decorative structures near the main stage and falling. Police ruled out the involvement of a third party.
A 39-year-old woman also died during the festival after suffering sudden cardiac arrest. Emergency crews attempted to resuscitate her but were unable to save her life. Following those two deaths, organisers shortened the festival’s Sunday music programme.
Tragedy: Two festivalgoers die at Ozora Festival in Hungary
Cover image: Photo: Ozora Festival official / Facebook
