Sziget Festival

The Hungarian party tourism is unbeatable

Global tourism is at its peak, and it’s above the global average in Hungary. Budapest is the most visited city in the country, being the favourite of foreign tourists, but the city is not even close its maximum capacity. This massive tourism has a dark side as well; there are cities in Europe where tourists make people’s life a hell. If Budapest’s popularity continues, we’re likely to go down the same road.

Hungary’s tourism has been steadily growing in the past few years: according to the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (KSH), the number of foreign tourists was more than 4.6 million in 2014, which is a 5.2% growth compared to the previous year. Most tourists choose Budapest: out of the 12 million overnight stays spent by foreigners in the region, 7.5 million was spent in Budapest. In comparison, only 1.7 million overnight stays were spent at Lake Balaton.

According to Mastercard’s most recent survey regarding tourism, there were 3 million tourists in the Hungarian capital, becoming the third most popular city in the region, after Wien and Prague, which had 6.1 million and 4.9 million visitors in 2014, respectively.

However, there are not only less tourists in Budapest, but they spend less money while they’re here, compared to the other two cities: it’s 218.000 HUF in Wien, 165.000 HUF in Prague, and only 98.000 HUF in Budapest.

The reason for that is most probably – besides Budapest having lower prices compared to other European cities – that most tourists come here for the “low-budget party tourism.” This kind of tourism has gradually increased in the past few years, bringing us the age of ruin pubs, encouraged by many.

Although tourism creates jobs, it’s good for the economy and the residents of the city, it has its backlashes as well: too many people, vandalism, the lack of peace. Cities like Barcelona are already struggling with the massive amount of tourists pouring into the city from year to year, and even began to protest against them. Locals were forced to move into other, less popular areas, as it was impossible for them to live in the party zone any longer (there are 1.6 million permanent residents in Barcelona, and it has approximately 7.5 million tourists a year).

According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) tourism gives work to every 11th person in the world, and the number of tourists has increased from 25 million to 1.133 billion from 1950 to today. It’s true that more and more people travel, has tourism related jobs, and the industry makes significant contributions to a country’s GDP (for more information and statistics visit http://www.wttc.org/ ).

The question is, if Budapest is ready for more tourists – or if it can handle those who are already here. Visitors do not stay here for years; they don’t go to work or school, as the rest of the country. Airbnb is flourishing, people move into apartments which once belonged to everyday people, who are either forced to bear the behaviour of these tourists and live with them, or pack up and move out.

It’s unclear at the moment if Budapest ends up like Barcelona, and become the city of tourists, forcing people to leave their own city – but tourists keep coming, because the Hungarian capital is still charming in 2015.

based on an article of index.hu
translated by Adrienn Sain

Photo: Csudai/sziget.hu

Sziget 2015 – 441 000 Szitizens from 95 countries

Sziget Festival has just ended and 2015 was a record-breaking year for the event, as the Island of Freedom hosted more visitors than ever before. A total of 441 000 Szitizens from 95 countries joined the non-stop week of fun.

Following last year’s success Sziget managed to go one step further and set new benchmarks both in terms of internationality and also regarding visitor figures. In spite of the recently extended daily capacity of 90 000 the festival had 3 sold-out days this year – Monday, Friday and Saturday – and set up a new overall attendance record of 441 000 (this figure traditionally doesn’t include the tickets sold for the -1 day).

photo: [ Sandor Csudai ] . www.facebook.com/csudaisandor‘We worked hard to create a festival that has its own unique identity – said Karoly Gerendai, Sziget’s main organizer. Our aim in the long term is to make sure Sziget’s image gets independent from its headliners, as we believe the most important features of the event are not necessarily playing on the big stages. To keep it simple: we try to give good reasons for fans to come to Sziget, we’re still trying hard to get good bands on our stages, but we also try to make sure that fans choose Sziget because we offer more: a huge adventure, a cultural holiday, an experience-packed week full of positive surprises. That’s what we will keep on focusing on, while we definitely don’t want to be involved in a dangerous competition to get overpriced headliners. That’s just not our path. We hope our message gets through to our visitors, as they are the ones who create the magical vibe of the place we call the Island of Freedom – he added.’

photo: [ Sandor Csudai ] . www.facebook.com/csudaisandorSziget hosted fans from 95 countries and artists from 50 countries to create one of the most international places on Earth, while it also welcomed Szitizen nr. 7 million, who earned a lifetime Sziget pass as a result.Hungarians still form the biggest group amongst Szitizens, but The Netherlands, UK, France, Germany and Italy are also very strongly present.

What was new this year?

This year the organizing crew worked hard on re-thinking the festival map to make sure the island can host a huge number of people in the safest and most convenient way. Changes included the Main Stage area, but also many other stages moved to new places or got facelifts both in terms of infrastructure and programming.

Sziget traditionally presents a huge variety of non-musical artistic projects and big efforts were made to refresh these programs, including the circus, theatre or dance performances. Besides, it was also an important Sziget-mission to give an even bigger space to the colourful world of music, so opera, folk music, world music, or classical tunes were also strongly represented at the festival.

photo: [ Sandor Csudai ] . www.facebook.com/csudaisandorSziget is definitely not just about non-stop partying, as there is a number of ‘relax zones’ with old and new functions at the festival area, like the Sziget Beach, the Campfire, the Luminarium, the Artzone, the Designzone, the I Ching Labirynth, the Museum Quarter, or even the Sportzone.

Magic Mirror, Sziget’s queer program venue celebrated its 15th birthday this year and also returned to a similarly impressive building where it all started 15 years ago. Ambassadors and other members of the diplomatic services accredited to Budapest were present to celebrate the occasion.

Pussy Riot was also a welcomed guest at Sziget. The slogan ‘Island of Freedom’ is a statement in itself and the organizing crew is always looking for new ways to promote the idea of openness and freedom. Having the chance to host the famous Russian female punk group and talk about their ideas on freedom was definitely a symbolic part of the 2015 Sziget program.

Next year’s Sziget date

Save the date for next year: 10-17 August 2016. Not a mistake, next year’s Sziget will take place from Wednesday to Wednesday, right after the Hungarian Formula 1 GP. See you then!

Camper’s tragedy overshadows Sziget

Shortly after the festival was over we have received the very sad news that a Sziget visitor died on Monday. The festival was already over at 11.30AM when a tree branch fell on a tent that was set up outside the festival area at a part of the island where it’s dangerous and prohibited to camp (also clearly indicated at the site). The tree most probably broke due to the heavy rain on Sunday night. Sziget’s medical crew did its best to save the life of the heavily injured camper, but could not succeed. In spite of the fact that the tragedy happened outside the festival area and also at a time when the festival was already over, the Sziget crew is deeply shocked by the news. We send our condolences to the family and friends.

based on the article of sziget.hu

Photos: sziget.hu

Tree limb falls on tent killing German camper at Sziget festival

Budapest, August 17 (MTI) – A German camper died at the Sziget Festival on Monday, when a tree limb fell on his tent, the festival’s press chief told MTI.

Viktoria Veto said heavy overnight rain caused the tree limb to fall on the man’s tent which was set up just outside the festival grounds in a prohibited camping area. Emergency personnel arrived on the scene immediately but were unable to resuscitate the young man.

The week-long Sziget Festival ended late on Sunday.

Photo: MTI

Pussy Riot answers questions on activism at Sziget festival

Budapest, August 14 (MTI) – Two members of Moscow-based punk-activist protest group Pussy Riot took questions from the audience during a session held at Budapest’s Sziget Festival on Friday.

“You go mad if you constantly live in fear,” members Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina, known for their campaign against Russian President Vladimir Putin, said at the event. They said they fought with art as well as organising civil action against Putin’s regime.

“Besides Russia it is only in Hungary that I met people who still thought we had danced naked in a church. This is not so; even our heads were masked,” Tolokonnikova said, adding that one did not need to be naked to carry out radical political action.

Tolokonnikova said she had set out on a journalist career when she was a student, but because of heavy censorship in the media she chose art instead.

Pyotr Verzilov, a Russian-Canadian artist and activist who is married to Tolokonnikova, said the group decided to take the path of political activism as there is no independent media in Russia and the opposition is not well organised.

“In western Europe this is difficult to grasp, but perhaps Hungarians understand better, because the government of Viktor Orban much resembles Putin’s Russia,” he said.

Alyokhina said Putin’s regime was very conservative and the Russian Orthodox Church believed that women’s role was to give birth so as to boost the population. But the social safety net to help raise children is not there, the monthly allowance for childcare is 50 US dollars, she said.

Tolokonnikova said their release from prison was merely “a PR move” and she denied accusations that the group’s performances were carried out under the influence of alcohol and drugs. She said this was “propaganda” and that staying clean was an important part of their act.

Asked to comment on the Crimean situation, Tolokonnikova said she condemned Russia’s presence in Ukraine and that Crimea should be part of Ukraine.

Commenting on a question about her political ambitions, Tolokonnikova said political change must be preceded by cultural change which “moves people”. She added that her prison record also meant she could not run for office for 10 years.

The duo proposed the Sziget event after a Q&A at the Glastonbury festival this summer was a success. Nadya and Masha said they would give their earnings to charity.

Photo: MTI

Sziget 2015 – Human trafficking “horrific crime”, says US envoy

Budapest (MTI) – Human trafficking is a form of modern day slavery, a “horrific crime” which the United States along with its partners like Hungary wants to root out, Colleen Bell, the US ambassador to Hungary, said on Thursday.

Hungary must meet huge challenges due to the rising number of immigrants and asylum-seekers in the country, Bell told a roundtable organised on the subject by Hungary’s Interior Ministry at the Sziget Festival. This invests it with greater responsibility in the fight against human trafficking, too, she added. Bell said she felt deeply about the problem in light of her own activities in groups that helped victims of human trafficking and sexual exploitation.

Gajus Scheltema, the Dutch ambassador, said he hoped Hungarian legislation would “evolve to be a stronger weapon against human trafficking”. At the same time he called on the Hungarian government to assist migrants and “make sure they get a decent place here while they are being registered before they move on”.

Mission representatives of the Netherlands, Austria, Britain, Belgium and Switzerland noted that their countries were cooperating with the Hungarian state and civil groups to control human trafficking and to help their victims.

Photo: MTI

Diplomats discuss corruption issues at Sziget festival

Budapest, August 13 (MTI) – Diplomats of several western countries noted the grave social and economic consequences of corruption at a press conference held at the Sziget festival on Thursday.

Senior embassy staff of France, the Netherlands and Great Britain discussed the importance of fighting corruption at a press conference organised by Transparency International Hungary.

Gajus Scheltema, the Dutch Ambassador to Hungary, said corruption was one of the most serious of negative phenomena undermining society, and the only way it can be fought against is through a good legal system and a transparent media which uncovers abuses.

Anne-Marie Maskay, First Counsellor at the French Embassy, noted there were lesser known connections between corruption and climate change. She added it was crucial that young people are educated about the dangers of corruption.

Peter Jozsef Martin, chief executive of TI Hungary, cited a survey according to which 80 percent of Hungarian youth believed it was impossible to get ahead without resorting to corruption. He also noted that Hungary fares below the EU average on corruption surveys.

Adam Kettle-Williams, Deputy Head of Mission at the British embassy, said corruption increases the risk of a crisis and weighs down the economy, too.

Balazs Weyer, co-founder of the investigative news portal Direkt36, said the Hungarian media is reporting less and less about corruption due to the risks and costs involved. Moreover, media outlets are often linked to financing through graft, he added.

Photo: MTI

Robbie Williams plays sold-out show at Sziget Festival

Budapest, August 11 (MTI) – Robbie Williams played a sold-out show to 75,000 people at the Sziget Festival in northern Budapest’s Obuda Island on Monday, the first day of the week-long festival.

A total of 80,000 people attended the festival on Monday, including 7-day passholders, the organisers said. Day-passes were sold out for headliner Williams.

Starting on Wednesday, 5-day passes will also become valid, so the event’s maximum capacity will grow to 90,000.

Tuesday’s headliners include Florence and the Machine on the main stage and Jungle and Infected Mushroom on the A38 stage.

Photo: MTI

Socialist MEP to tour European cities to discuss emigration

Budapest, August 11 (MTI) – Socialist MEP Istvan Ujhelyi will meet Hungarians working abroad in several big European cities in the upcoming months in order to understand their needs and convey them to lawmakers.

Ujhelyi held his first Q&A on the subject of migration at the Sziget festival in Budapest on Tuesday.

The government has abandoned Hungarians working abroad partly because of its insensitivity to social problems and partly because the 600,000 young people who have left the country did not vote in the general election, he said.

Based on fresh statistics Hungary has become a “country of emigrants,” Ujhelyi insisted. He said it was also “food for thought” that half of the 19-30 age group and a third of the 30-40 age group were considering getting jobs abroad.

Ujhelyi said he would hold his meetings with Hungarians in London, Berlin, Vienna, Rome and Malta.

Photo: www.infocegled.hu

Confirmed on last minute: Pussy Riot on Sziget 2015

Just confirmed last minute to Sziget: the two emblematic members of Pussy Riot, Nadia and Masha, who are known from the feminist-punk-activist Putin opposer band are now arriving to Sziget after their successful time at Glastonbury Festival. The public, interactive roundtable discussion of the pussy revolution will be at the Island of Freedom 14th August.

Exactly on the re-election night of Vladimir Putin in September of 2011, a collective was formed by young Russian girls, lead by Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina. The punk activist group called Pussy Riot, got world-known for their Putin-opposing performances, show trial, imprisonment and their sentence to penal colonies. Thanks to a strong and unified international pressure, they got back their freedom. Such artists have supported them as Madonna, Red Hot Chili Peppers or Franz Ferdinand. Earlier they have said that Russia is in the need of a fighter punk feminist band and that their aim was to make the whole world laugh at Putin and any leader who has principles should never sit down to a table with him. The political views of the band are merged from feminism and anti autocracy.

Their performances and songs are feminist proclamations in the name of democracy and gender equality. Lately they have visited Glastonbury Festival, where they received high interest from the world press. BBC wrote: “It was awesome, they are totally, unbelievably inspiring. They inspire a generation.”, while The Guardian noted that “Pussy Riot proved that revolution is still alive at Glastonbury.” After their success in the UK, the girls were happy to come to Sziget, to the Island of Freedom, to have an interactive discussion. This program will be a charity event as well, as their fee received from Sziget will go to a human rights organization supported by them. So, 14th August at Sziget, Pussy Riot will speak about freedom at the Island of Freedom.

2015 Sziget anthem: Easy As One, Two, Three by Irie Maffia – VIDEO

Celebrating their 10th anniversary, Irie Maffia, is the band behind this year’s anthem of the Island of Freedom. “Easy as one, two, three” is a song truly representing the atmosphere and values of Sziget.

Every year a prominent Hungarian band has the opportunity to write the anthem of Sziget Festival. Last year everyone sang “Together” from Ivan and the Parazol and now the ten year old Irie Maffia has the opportunity to set the vibe for #sziget2015. Sena, front woman of the band, said that the song is about freedom: setting free emotions, thoughts and other things with the help of music. She said: “In the lyrics we say that whatever life situation you are in, be it good or bad, if you say it out load, you can let it go and liberate yourself. Spit it on the mic, come along and be free – so just let it all go”.

Irie Maffia doesn’t really have genre boundaries, anything is exciting for them from roots reggae to house, funk and stadium rock.

Check the music video of the song with Sziget pictures:

Photo: MTI

Sziget 2015 – Live on YouTube

If you feel like getting a taste of “Europe’s Best Major Festival”, but can’t make it to the Island of Freedom, then check out our live stream on YouTube, powered by Telekom. If you like what you see, you’re never too late to join the party!

Sziget is happy to announce the 2015 live stream from the festival, available on szigetfestival.com, on the festival’s YouTube channel (youtube.com/szigetofficial) and also on other websites all across the world. The live stream is supported by Telekom and will include the festival’s 4 biggest stages: Main Stage, A38 Stage, Telekom Arena and the MasterCard World Music Stage. You can watch the stream on all festival days from 4PM (CET) and there will be a rebroadcast of the previous day’s program every morning.

Already confirmed acts for the livestream include:

Antwerp GipsySka Orchestra, Arty, Awolnation, Babylon Circus, Balthazar, Bassjackers, Besh o drom, Blasterjaxx, Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino, Che Sudaka, Cro, DakhaBrakha, Dhoad Gypsies of Rajasthan, Enter Shikari, Foxes, Gogol Bordello, Halestorm, Helsinki-Cotonou Ensemble, HK & Les Saltimbanks, Hollywood Undead, Imam Baildi, Infected Mushroom, Interpol, Irie Maffia, Jaguar Skills, Jett Rebel, Jose Gonzalez, Kadebostany, Kraftklub, La Chiva Gantiva, LaBrassBanda, Lucas & Steve, Mariza, Martin Garrix (10 minutes only), Milky Chance, Ocho Macho, Oliver Heldens (first 30 min only), Parno Graszt, Punnany Massif, Quimby, Romengo, Roy Paci & Aretuska Allstars, Sander van Doorn, Sidney Samson, Söndörgő, Szalonna és Bandája, Taraf de Haidouks, The Biebers, The Egyptian Project, The Subways, The Ting Tings, Tobtok, William Fitzsimmons.

Check out bands, chat with fellow fans from all around the world while watching the live stream and be part of the world’s most international fan community. The Island of Freedom has open doors for you… also on YouTube!

Program and festival tickets still available at: www.szigetfestival.com

based on the article of szigetfestival.com

Photo: szigetfestival.com

Meet Europe at Sziget

Sziget Festival does not only host a truly international and open-minded audience for 7 days, but also dedicates a stage for some of the most exciting up-and-coming European bands. The concept of the British Knights Europe Stage is to entertain Szitizens already in the early afternoon all the way till night and to do so in the name of multiculturalism. Many of the bands were chosen in cooperation with partners like CEETEP, Gigmit and Puglia Sounds.

Youropen – the European talent festival

The British Knights Europe Stage will host European talents on days -1 and 0. Youropen is a 2 days selection of aspiring bands, arriving from 16 different countries and eager to show their skills in front of the world’s possibly most international and open-minded crowd. This is the place to kick-start the 7 days of non-stop fun, as the Monday and Tuesday program starts already at 1PM and goes all the way till 9PM.

Italian showcases at the Europe Stage

Sziget has a long tradition in showcasing Italian acts and the British Knights Europe Stage is the perfect place for this. Thanks to the collaboration with Puglia Sounds/Medimex, L’Alternativa and Puglia Promozione, Sziget 2015 will host 13 of the most interesting artists from the Italian music scene and a large delegation of artists from Puglia, one of the most musical areas of Italy. The Medimex Lightstage (right next to Europe Stage) will be the stronghold of Italian music and culture throughout the week.

Italian bands playing on the Europe Stage will include the talent contest winner Joe Victor, Après La Classe, Lo Stato Sociale and Fast Animals And Slow Kids. The Medimex Lightstage will present talents like Jungle Brothers, Una, Moustache Prawn or Mery Fiore.

The British Knights Europe Stage will be situated at the more tranquil part of the island, close to the Alternativa and Apero campsites. Be there and meet the stars of the future.

CEETEP bands

Europe Stage will also host bands involved in CEETEP, the Central and Eastern European Talent Exchange Program. This is the final year of this concentrated program, aiming to include more and more talented CEE acts in the line-up of the biggest European festivals. This year’s CEETEP bands will arrive to Sziget from Serbia, Croatia and Macedonia and as always, Sziget is happy to open doors and minds.

Gigmit bands

In 2015 Sziget and Gigmit joined forces and two bands from the Gigmit roster were chosen to play at the British Knights Europe Stage. Several hundred bands applied and the winner of the jury voting was A.S. from France, while there was also a public voting taking place, won by Turrentine Jones from the UK. The total number of votes were easily over 10 000, which shows how eager bands are to play on the Island of Freedom. You can check out the gig of both A.S. and Turrentine Jones on Friday early afternoon.

More information on the festival’s program: http://szigetfestival.com/programs
More information on CEETEP: http://www.etep.nl/en/ceetep/
More information on Gigmit: https://www.gigmit.com
More information on Puglia Sounds: http://www.pugliasounds.it

Discounted Sziget Festival tickets available – 3 days left

Discounted Sziget Festival tickets are only available till 31 July. This year’s event is selling as fast as last year when it broke all previous records and ended up sold-out, so it makes a lot of sense for all fans to buy tickets till Friday.

The Sziget crew is expecting a similarly big crowd as last year, meanwhile the event that’s already among the biggest in Europe managed to grow in maximum capacity. “We expect that also this year we will host more than 400 000 fans throughout the whole week – said main organizer KarolyGerendai. “This year we managed to restructure the festival area in a way that it can conveniently host an even higher number of visitors, if needed” – he added.

The organizers did not only work on developing the infrastructural basis of Sziget, but also put in a big effort to provide a very colorful program. New program venues will appear, old venues will move to new areas and even the already famous visual experience of the festival will get one step higher.

“It’s a good indicator for what we’re actually working on to tell you the basic stats: we will have artists from 47 countries and already sold tickets to visitors from 89 countries. So, the Island of Freedom is truly an international place, maybe the most international spot on Earth during this week.” – Gerendai added.

More information and tickets: www.szigetfestival.com

Photo: Sandor Csudai

Summer festivals receive nearly EUR 1.6m from state

Budapest (MTI) – Hungary’s summer festivals are receiving a total of nearly 500 million forints (EUR 1.6m) state support this year, an official of the Ministry of Human Resources said on Friday.

State secretary Bence Rétvári told a press conference that the Sziget Festival in Budapest, the Volt Festival in Sopron in western Hungary and the Balaton Sound festival are getting a combined 150 million forints (EUR 476,000). Additionally, several festivals included in the Nagyon Balaton scheme are to receive a combined 337 million forints (EUR 1.1m), he said.

Hungary’s festivals generate around 10-12 percent of international tourism, resulting in an annual 100 billion forints (EUR 318m) revenues in the economy and jobs for locals, Rétvári said. Large festivals face serious competition internationally, so the government decided last year to reduce the VAT on festival tickets from 27 percent to 18 percent, he added.

He said state support for the Budapest Spring Festival and CAFe Budapest is to increase to 1.9 billion forints (EUR 6m) and the National Cultural Fund of Hungary is distributing a total of 300 million forints (EUR  953,000) to support cultural and gastronomic festivals that attract a large number of tourists.

Photo: MTI

Kings of Leon at Sziget 2015

Sziget is proud to announce Kings of Leon at this year’s Island of Freedom. Their headline gig on the 15th August is one of the very few chances to meet the band in Europe during the summer. Sziget Festival is held in Budapest between 10-17 August.

Related article:
President Ader: Hungary Sziget, VOLT festivals join climate change campaign
Sziget 2015 – British Knights Europe Stage hosts top European acts
Sziget 2015 – Organizers: The interest to the festival is unbreakable

Kings of Leon arrives to Sziget this summer! A huge piece of news, especially that this is an almost exclusive gig in Europe for the summer season. So, combine your favorite gig with a festival holiday and be at the Sziget Main Stage this August! The week of Sziget Festival is a real festival holiday, where visitors can not only enjoy 7 days of non-stop fun, but countless programs and venues. The Island of Freedom is the happy owner of ‘Best European Major Festival’ award and aims to keep this title with its original program and unique atmosphere. For this reason, organizers are very happy to announce Kings of Leon in the line-up.

The four Followills — singer/ guitarist Caleb, guitarist Matthew, drummer Nathan, bassist Jared — had been on a fairly relentless run for the preceding twelve years, releasing six albums, gathering Grammys, BRIT awards and touring the world dozens of times since emerging from Nashville in early 2003. After headlining the world’s biggest Festivals including Roskilde, Coachella, Glastonbury, Rock Werchter, Lollapalooza & many more, this will be the band’s first appearance in Hungary – sets have included songs from all six of the band’s iconic albums.

The end is still far away as the 7 day long festival holiday hosts around 1000 programs altogether. More venues and programs will arrive in the upcoming weeks!

Tickets and information: www.szigetfestival.com

President Ader: Hungary Sziget, VOLT festivals join climate change campaign

Budapest (MTI) – Two of Hungary’s big music festivals, Sziget and VOLT, along with their organisers, have joined the campaign against climate change, President Janos Ader announced on Saturday.

Ader last month launched on his home page a signature drive encouraging the Hungarian public to join the initiative on elobolygonk.hu. He joined former US vice-president Al Gore’s initiative to collect one billion signatures urging world leaders to reach a climate agreement at the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris in December.

Speaking at a press conference on Saturday, Ader said that festival-goers this year, whose numbers are expected to reach 1.2 million, will have a chance to learn about the issue of climate change as it affects them.

The festival organisers, Karoly Gerendai of Sziget and Norbert Lobenwein of VOLT, said information on climate change and details on how to join the global campaign will be presented on monitors and screens.

Photo: MTI

Sziget 2015 – British Knights Europe Stage hosts top European acts

Sziget is proud to host a multicultural Szitizen community, also reflected in the program offered by the Island of Freedom. Solid European bands, who have already proven their talent in their home countries now have the opportunity to showcase their music in front of Sziget fans from more than 80 countries. Their home will the British Knights Europe Stage at Sziget Festival, held in Budapest between 10-17 August.

On the Island of Freedom there is a special venue, the BK Europe Stage, dedicated to some of the most promising European artists. This year bands arrive from more than 20 countries, showcasing their talent and bringing their local hero powers to Sziget.

France will present Erotic Market, a quartet possessing magical powers. Lyrically they can be expressive or streetwise, while their hip-hop sound is full of catchy tunes, electronic effects and the chemistry of organic music. Winner of the European Reggae Contest in 2014, Wailing Trees, is a fresh up-and-coming French band, dynamic and ambitious, mixing ambitious sound of reggae tinged of soul, jazz, rock and world music. Representing The Netherlands Splendid is known as one of the most exciting, lively, party hard live bands. With their energetic mixture of pop, hip-hop and reggae sounds, the charismatic front man Pat and his 7-piece band sticks into your head like glue blowing off every party and festival’s roof. My Baby is a bluesrock trio consisting of Dutch brother and sister Joost and Cato van Dyck and Kiwi gitarist Daniel ‘Da Freez’ Johnston. The band supported Seasick Steve on his UK tour in April and will not only perform at Sziget this year, but many other festivals too.

The Spanish Delafé y Las Flores Azules will bring their unique style and an invitation to surrender to the music and spread pure happiness. Also coming from Spain, The Always Drinking Marching Band, is a company made up by musicians, actors, technicians, dancers, pub poets (and many others, of course), that has been performing in the streets of the world since 1997. German singer and multi-instrumentalist Robert Laupert sings from the perspective of a songwriter, but mixes a secret into his songs, tender and approachable at times, and now and then with the guttural brokenness of the old blues masters.

Thanks to the support of Puglia Sounds (regional agency for the development of the local music industry) many bands have the possibility to showcase the best of Italian music at Sziget. This year the BK Europe Stage is happy to welcome the Après la Classe from Salento. Their sound moves from dub rock to electro rock mixed up with the live experience, several electronic sounds and original songwriting. Lo Stato Sociale is an electro-pop band born in Bologna. They received awards like “Best Young Talent of the Year”. Fast Animals and Slow Kids plays anthemic punk rock music, characterized by sing-alongs and walls of distorted guitars that are best to be heard/seen/enjoyed live. Founded in Perugia, the band has been playing restlessly in Italy.

Arriving from Poland, the Internet phenomenon, The Dumplings, moved up to become the biggest Polish sensation of 2013. Through their music, The Dumplings combine youth with intransigence, generational lyrics with fresh look at electronic music, catchy melodies with dance sadness. This year’s Finnish band is 22-Pistepirkko, founded on the ashes of a punk rock band called “Matti Mätä &SS” at Utajärvi. Representing Israel theAngelcy will perform at #sziget2015. The band received excellent reviews, thanks to its personal, spiritual, and politically involved texts, catchy melodies, various colorful influences and great musicians.

Mydy Rabycad – the very first Czech electroswing/modern swing band from Prague are four young musicians with sense of humor trying to act and play like real stars, while the Slovak Frequency is a young space pop band. Their virtue is mainly their multi-instrumentalism, which they present at live performances, and also their specific vintage/modern sound. The Belgian Lohaus is a young collective consisting of three musicians, bringing a mix of electro and trippop. The Austrian MÖWE is characterized by their powerful performance. Oliver Koletzi was quickly drawn to Mel & Clem and immediately signed them under his label Stil vor Talent, under which they launched their second EP “Inside”.

Naadia from Moscow is one of the most unique actors on the Russian independent music scene. In the center of attention we can find the singer, Nadesda Grickevic, who became the pioneer of the new generation of Russian artists. In the music of the Armenian gag-dance-punk duo, Wattican Punk Ballet, we can find psychedelic rock elements, danceable punk, distorted pop sounds and theatrical effects. HAYDAMAKY from Ukraine created their own genuine style called “Kozack Rock ”, based on Ukrainian roots music and contemporary music genres, and filled it with clear social message.

The BK Europe Stage also hosts some bands involved in CEETEP, the Central and Eastern European Talent Exchange Program. This is the final year of this concentrated program, aiming to include more and more talented CEE acts in the line-up of the biggest European festivals. As always, Sziget is happy to open doors and minds. In the framework of the program we can find Serbian band Eyesburn, who started a musical exploration of genres like reggae, dub, drum & bass and creating their own specific sound and mixture of styles which many people liked, expanding their fan-base. In addition, June from Macedonia will hit the stage with a breeze of freshness playing a mixture of indie pop, americana with doses of acoustic country pop.

Sziget Festival’s Europe Stage will be also the home of European talents on Day -1 and Day 0 (10-11 August). YOUROPEN is a 2 days selection of aspiring bands, arriving from 15 different countries and eager to show their skills in front of the world’s possibly most international and open-minded crowd. The program starts early in the afternoon and goes all the way till late night on both days.

More names, venues, programs will arrive in the upcoming weeks!

Tickets and information: www.szigetfestival.com

Photo: Sandor Csudai, Balazs Mohai

Sziget 2015 – Organizers: The interest to the festival is unbreakable

According to szon.hu, this year’s press conference was held in Budapest, last week at A38 ship, by Gerendai Károly; the main organizer. Last year, there were more than 400 thousands visitors and this year interest is still high. Gerendai Károly, main organizer, introduced the innovations and said that the same genres will be put in the same zones. Nowadays, star performers are not enough to attract visitors. We improve the lights, the infrastructure, the hygiene, the public lights, which will be installed in more places and the main stage will be bring forward in order to be able to host more people – said Gerendai Károly.

From this year’s performers, we can highlight Robbie Williams who will be on stage on the minus first day on 10th August; this concert will be precede by two Hungarian productions: the Nagy-Szín-Pad talent show’s (yet unknown) winner, moreover, the Irie Maffia band who performed the Sziget’s hymn this year. At the zeroth day, the selection will vary from the Gentleman & the Evolution, the Florence and the Machine and to Quimby. The next days’ main stage will host performers such as, Ellie Goulding, Avicii, Kasabian, Limp Bizkit, Foals, Marina and the Diamonds, Gogol Bordello, Maccabees and the performer of the End Show: Martin Garrix.

It has been said that the financial limit to the festival has been increased which means that this year 4, 4 billion forints will be laid into the festival; moreover, the ticket selling is better than the previous year. Just for the lights, they will spend 1 million euros (almost 300 000 million forints) and more than one thousand programs will be held at the Hajógyári Island between 10th and 17th August.

Gerendai Károly also mentioned that the Sziget festival plays an important role in the national cultural life and also in the intercultural festivals; the festival has been selected as Europe’s best big festival for the second time this year. The main organizer told that 90% of the passes are being sold abroad; the week-long festival attracts as many tourists as the Formula 1. He remarked: the last year’s decision, to held the festival a week later than the previous time had made changes in Japanese and other European festivals, too. They had also put the date of their festivals a week later.

Kardos József, the old-new program director has become part of the Sziget’s team again, after Szép Fruzsina had joined a team at a festival in Berlin. At the press conference, he highlighted that with the genre zones, the festival’s programs probably will be more popular.

‘The KúltúrZóna will be stronger: in the Fidelio stage there will be with opera, classical music and jazz. Moreover, this zone will host the theater and dance booths, the ‘vándor vurstli’, a lot of little street theaters, also the Hungarikum Falu and the dance halls which were taken the place of the afro-latin-raggae place. The zone will also be home for the museum quarter, too, where 17 institutes will be there – said Kardos József.

At Fidelio the following productions will be held: the CrossOper production will be seen and heard, the Opera Sitcom with the cooperation of the Armel Opera Festival and the College of Music; in addition to this, the Virtuózok Tehetségei, the violinist from Britain, Abraham Brody’s or Harcsa Veronika ‘s jazz production. At the theatre and dance booths the performers will be: the infamous Japanese dance-choreographer, Hiroaki Umeda, the Cuban Danz Abierta group, the French Compagnie MimH and the Israeli IdanSharabi & Dancers.

At the popular Circus place, the Cirque du Sziget, the following shows can be seen: the French Akoreaco group’s Klaxon show, the Czech Cirk La Putyka and the Hungarian Grotesque Gimnastics. The Nagy Utcaszínház’s this year’s sensation will be the Argentinian FuerzaBruta group’s Al Globe show which hadn’t been performed in East Europe before. The program director said that the Nagy Utcaszínház can host 1500 people but the show can be enjoyed from outside which will be four times a day at the big field before the A38 ship.

There will be a creative zone with logic booth, also, TEDx conference’s workshops with startup enterprises and young scientists, the Design Zóna with the Desing Terminal and WAMP sellers, the ArtZone’s artists and industrial designers, the Sport Zóna with numerous possibilities to sport, the Elektronikus Zóna with the main performers of the Colosseum and the Telekom Aréna. The fifteen-year-old Magic Mirror will be directed by Lakatos Márk.

The world’s music location is moving again to the spot where the circus used to be; however, its repertoire will be wider and more money will be invested into this section. The intercultural Gypsy music’s starts, the Mariza, the LaBrassBanda, the She’ Koyokh, the Noura Mint Seymali will have their concerts here. The A38’s stage will be host Dropkick Murphys, Enter Shikari, Gaslight Anthem, Infected Mushrooms, Interpol, José Gonzales and the Petőfi Rádió. On the Telekom’s VOLT Festival Stage will perform this year’s winner of the talent show of Nagy-Szín-Pad, the Péterfy Bori & Love Band, the Kistehén, the Carbonfools, the Kiscsillag, the Magashegyi Underground, the Wellhello, the Bin-Jip Erik Truffazzal the Fábián Juli & Zoohacker, the Vad Fruttik, the Hiperkarma and the 30Y,too.

Gerendai Péter said that landscaping had happened at most part of the Sziget and they had improved the festival’s water facilities, too.

based on article of szon.hu
translated by Andrea Toth

Photo: MTI