Sziget Festival revenue set to reach EUR 19m

Budapest, July 6 (MTI) – Budapest’s Sziget Festival is expected to generate revenue of 6 billion forints (EUR 19m) this year, the organiser told Wednesday’s issue of business daily Világgazdaság.

This year’s revenue will be “somewhat higher” than last year’s, Sziget managing director Károly Gerendai told the paper.

As in earlier years, ticket sales are set to generate 75 percent of revenue while sponsorship and catering each account for 10-12 percent, he said. State support makes up 1 percent of revenue, he added.

“On the expenditure side, programme costs continue to make up the biggest item, followed by technical costs. The most expensive acts at this year’s festival are, naturally, Rihanna and the returning Muse,” Gerendai said.

Világgazdaság noted that week passes for the Sziget Festival, which will take place on August 10-17, were sold out already at the end of June.

Punters have greater spending power and festival-going has become “an integral part” of young people’s lives, he said. “That’s a global trend that Hungary is a part of.”

It has also become clear over time that visitors to the Sziget Festival are not looking for the cheapest price, but the best price-to-value ratio, which the festival delivers, he said.

“A couple of years ago, we changed our strategy for Sziget: because of the unrealistically high prices demanded by performers, we don’t want to and can’t compete with big international festivals that have more money. So, in the course of our development, we don’t want to spend more on star lineups, but on those things that make Sziget different from the other festivals, such as the spectacle, the diversity and the high quality of service,” he added.

Photo: Csudai/sziget.com

Source: MTI