Commissioner owning the territory talks about cancelling Sziget Festival
Szilárd Demeter is the leader of the Petőfi Cultural Agency, an organisation owning the Southern parts of the Óbuda island, the venue of the world-known Budapest Sziget Festival. Now he said when he would shut down the event.
Mr Demeter is a government commissioner and was interviewed by ATV and Index. During the talk, he cleared when they would support the event. He mentioned two prerequisites. First, it should remain a pop-cultural mass event instead of a festival. Secondly, it should remain affordable for Hungarians, Világgazdaság wrote. Both are subjective prerequsites.
He said that the event should never become a meeting point of drunk foreign tourists and bachelor/hen party partakers, who leave their vomit and go. If that happens, Sziget will become worthless regardless of the GDP it generates.
He told Világgazdaság that his agency could cease the Sziget if they wanted. That is because they received the Southern part of the Óbuda island from the government, where the VIP camping and the festival’s financial centre are based. Mr Demeter complained before that it is problematic there is no longer a Hungarian share in the company behind the festival.
He highlighted he would only sign annual contracts with the organisers because “the future is unpredictable”. He added that the 3rd district and the Hungarian National Asset Management Inc. signed similar contracts. Budapest did not follow that pattern, but predicted the capital’s leadership would have conflicts with the festival’s organisers because of some very strict preconditions they built into the agreement.
Read also:
No more Sziget Fesztivál in Budapest? Commissioner speaks darkly, and he owns the territory
Szilárd Demeter, Ministerial Commissioner and Director of the Petőfi Literary Museum, said they could end the Sziget Fesztivál in a recently published interview with Spirit FM.
According to 24.hu, the Petőfi Cultural Agency owns many parts of the Hajógyári-sziget, the venue of the grande event. Therefore, they could easily ban such a festival to be held on their territory. Mr Demeter said that his agency owns the entire Southern segment of the Hajógyári-sziget. He added that the American owners bought up the shares of Tamás Kádár. Therefore, there is no Hungarian property in the event. As a result, it is not in the interest of his cultural agency to allow such an event to be organised again. However, he added they could not think like that because the cultural profit is much bigger than what he would like to do on the 8 hectares his agency has on the Danube island.
He added he sat down with the event organisers and agreed they would sign a contract each year to allow residents to reclaim the island. An estimated 450,000 attended last year’s Sziget Festival. The event drew a sell-out crowd on its opening day and near-capacity crowds on two other days, the festival’s main organiser said in 2022.
Read also:
Here is the line-up for the world-famous Sziget Festival
Sziget Festival has announced this year’s final headliners.
The newly unveiled headliners of the world-famous festival include, among others, Macklemore, Lorde and Mumford & Sons. Now that the list of headliners is complete, daily tickets are finally on sale for the festival, which will take place from 10 to 15 August.
More than 30 international performers
According to the chief organiser Tamás Kádár’s Tuesday announcement,
in addition to the previously announced headliners such as Billie Eilish, David Guetta, Florence + the Machine, and Imagine Dragons, Mumford & Sons, Lorde and Macklemore have recently been added to the line-up, as well as more than 30 international performers on various stages.
One of the first to share the news was index.hu, reporting that Lorde, one of the newly announced headliners, will perform in Hungary for the first time. The other top attraction this year is Macklemore, who has not performed at Sziget since 2019. Mumford & Sons will also return to the main stage of the Budapest festival as a familiar face. They last performed at Sziget in 2018 on a sold-out day.
The following names have now been announced:
Lorde, Macklemore, Mumford & Sons, Bonobo, Tale Of Us, girl in red, Yung Lean, Caroline Polachek, Loyle Carner, Arlo Parks, Jeff Mills, AJR, Sleaford Mods, Ben Böhmer live, SG Lewis, Mochakk, Reinier Zonneveld Live, TroyBoi, Giant Rooks, Lazza, I Hate Models, 999999999, Confidence Man, The Aces, Son Mieux, Acid Arab, DJ Tennis, Shlømo, Herrensauna XXL, Anetha, TxC, Bizzey, Josman, Mezzosangue, Call Me Karizma, Lucie Antunes, Coloray, Vinicio Capossela, anna RF, Queralt Lahoz, The Haunted Youth, 47Ter, Leyo, Stain The Canvas, M. Byrd, LASS, Al-Qasar, Awir Leon, Damien
Tamás Kádár highlighted that finally, the list of headliners is complete so they will start selling daily tickets.
More improvements to come
In addition to the music programme, the Sziget Festival main organiser revealed some other important details. He announced the return of Art of Freedom, which aims to bring thought-provoking and fascinating artwork to the festival.
In addition, mobile toilets will be almost nowhere to be found on the festival site. They will be replaced by containerised toilet rooms.
The organiser also underlined that this year they are tackling a problem that was already present last year. He said that at last year’s festival, “we were struggling a lot with the dust caused by the unusual drought, but this year we are doing our best on multiple fronts to make sure that this does not happen again.” At the end of last year, the area had already been “re-greened.” They are also working with the Municipality of Budapest and the Municipality of Óbuda. In case of severe drought, the Danube water will be used to irrigate the soil. In addition, a new dust removal technique will be used. The process involves using the humidity in the air to create a layer of moisture on the soil.
Read alsoMore world stars come to the popular Hungarian festival
Billie Eilish to perform in Budapest in 2023
Billie Eilish will be one of the headline acts at the 2023 Sziget Festival in Budapest. The 20-year-old American singer will be joined by David Guetta next summer.
In the past years, world stars such as Dua Lipa, Rihanna, Lana Del Rey and Ed Sheeran have performed at the world famous Sziget Festival, rtl.hu reports.
Billie Eilish and David Gueatta, as well as Imagine Dragons and Florence and the Machine, will also be coming to the Sziget Festival in August 2023. The festival will take place next year between 10 and 18 August.
Read alsoKing Charles’s Hungarian cook shared secrets about his visits in Zalánpatak
No more VOLT Festival and Balaton Sound?
In Hungary, the biggest festivals are probably Sziget, Balaton Sound and VOLT. This year, however, two festivals seemed to have lost their popularity. While Sziget made a profit, Balaton Sound and VOLT were both unprofitable in 2022. Could this mean the end of these events?
VOLT and Balaton Sound in 2022
VOLT was held in Sopron between 21-25 June. Main-stage performers of this year’s festival included MUSE, The Killers, and Sum 41. In addition, the festival also offered grocery and drug stores set up on the festival site, phone-charging points, Wi-Fi spots, and a cash-free payment system. As for Balaton Sound, there were some concerns about the Balaton wildlife. In total, 10 traces of illicit drugs were detected in the water samples, and almost all of them were present in the water only on the days after the festival. The researchers found that most of the drugs “retained their pharmacological effects in water, which could have potentially harmful effects on wildlife”. Moreover, it turned out that the festival has an earth-shaking effect.
Read alsoWizz Air left its passengers boiling for half a day in 40 °C waiting room
No profit, no festival?
According to Index, only Sziget could make a profit this year. Balaton Sound’s result slightly fell short of expectations, while VOLT seems to have a greater loss. However, the hoped-for profit of the 28th edition of Sziget can compensate Sziget Kft. Therfore, their company can be profitable, compared to the loss of HUF 2.2 billion (EUR 5,441,867) in the last two years, said company manager Tamás Kádár to Népszava. They could already start organizing the 29th Sziget in 2023, and next year’s passes are already available at “super early bird” prices. According to him, the future of VOLT and Balaton Sound will be decided after the evaluation of the season.
450,000 visitors at Sziget Festival
Although VOLT and Balaton Sound did not produce profit, Sziget did. This year, 450,000 visitors had fun at the festival. However, this appears to be a decline – the peak was reached in 2018 with 565,000 visitors. According to another approach, around 200,000 people visited Sziget at least once this year. Tamás Kádár agreed that this year’s weather was kind to them. Only the dust made life at the festival harder which was caused by the months-long drought. Next year, organizers plan to fight against this inconvenience. Although a report on the nationality of the visitors has not yet been prepared, he estimated the proportion of Hungarians to be between 40 and 50 percent this year.
Read alsoVIDEO, PHOTOS: August 20 festivities started, national flag hoisted
18+ VIDEO: Belgian man was nearly beaten to death at Budapest’s Sziget
A young man was nearly beaten to death at Budapest’s Sziget Festival last Friday evening. The perpetrator only stopped when the victim lost consciousness yet he still took a last swing at him. Warning: the video below contains disturbing images.
Nobody knows what triggered the brutal beating
Telex.hu published the video of one of their readers who recorded a brutal incident taking place on Friday night at Budapest’s Sziget Festival. The eyewitness wrote that four young men beat another one until the victim could no longer move and lost consciousness. However, the recording showed only one Hungarian man who kept beating up the Belgian guy until he knocked him out with an almost deadly blow on his head. At some point during the fight, the victim got help from an Austrian guy. The Austrian violently tried to stop the aggression and seemed to overcome the attacker for a couple of seconds.
However, he was taken down by a chokehold. Thus, the attacker could finish the victim with a final, almost deadly head blow. Afterwards, he turned to the Austrian guy and knocked him out, too.
Interestingly, there were a lot of bystanders who cheered and booed the men after each blow, yet none of them tried to intervene. Only some girls shouted at the Hungarian-speaking perpetrator asking him why he went mad. He answered that the Belgian man hit on his girlfriend, who did not appear in the video though.
The Belgian citizen reportedly suffered a mandibular fracture and was transferred to a nearby hospital, where he was put on a respirator. 24.hu wrote that he was already released, just like the Austrian guy who suffered only minor injuries.
Ongoing police investigation
The press head of Sziget, Viktória Vető, said that their medical team provided first-aid support to the injured man. She added that the ambulance took the casualty to the hospital, and the police had been investigating the case.
The police headquarters of the 3rd district have been investigating an aggravated assault against an unknown perpetrator. Currently, the officers have been collecting data, seizing video recordings and interrogating eye-witnesses. However, as of Monday evening, they have not yet interrogated any suspects.
HERE you may watch the disturbing video.
The visitors were well behaved
As we reported before, the Sziget Festival ended this Monday. The estimated number of visitors reached 450,000, with the event drawing a sell-out crowd on its opening day and near-capacity crowds on two other days.
The leader of the so-called “helpers”, the volunteers offering medical service during the festival, Dr Géza Szalai, said that the visitors behaved relatively well during the event. He added that the heat and the dust caused most of the problems. However, he did not claim
they had not met drunk and/or high people.
On the other hand, they recorded only one COVID-positive guest, borsonline.hu reported.
The ambulance was called to only 10-15 drunk people a day, which is not a high number considering the size of the event. There were no occasions when guests under alcohol or drug influence showed aggressive behaviour, Dr Szalai added.
Featured image: illustration
Budapest Sziget Festival was a huge success – number of visitors revealed
An estimated 450,000 attended this year’s Sziget Festival, with the event drawing a sell-out crowd on its opening day and near-capacity crowds on two other days, the festival’s main organiser said on Monday.
Speaking to MTI on the closing day of the festival, Tamás Kádár said daily average attendance this year had been higher than in 2019, when the event was seven days long and drew a total of 530,000 people. The festival was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Concerning this year’s headliners, Kádár praised British pop star Dua Lipa’s opening-night concert. “Dua Lipa’s show was perfectly planned down to last tenth of a second,” he said. However, he said the other headliner, Canadian pop singer Justin Bieber, had “received some unfavourable reactions”, while others had found his show to be “the experience of a lifetime”.
Kádár said Sziget’s owners had aimed for the festival to make a successful comeback after the hiatus. “I think this goal was met,” he said.
He welcomed the changes introduced this such as the new entry process and the expansion of the area around the main stage. But Kadar said the labour shortage in the music industry, inflation and the weaker forint had all made the planning of the event more challenging. At the same time, Sziget benefitted from many western European festivalgoers buying six-day passes this year instead of three-day ones as a result of growing demand for music festivals in Europe following the pandemic restrictions, he said.
The festival marks its 30th anniversary next year, Kádár noted, adding that organisers are planning further upgrades.
Read alsoBrutal accident happened during Budapest’s Sziget Festival – PHOTO
Check out Justin Bieber partying dressed as Spiderman at Hungarian fairytale castle
Justin Bieber performed at the Budapest Sziget Festival on Friday night. Surprisingly, the concert started and ended earlier than scheduled. Now it seems we know why the Canadian singer was in such a hurry: Bieber held an after-party at Tura Castle.
Bieber at the Budapest Sziget Festival
This year sees the return of the internationally popular Sziget Festival. After 2019, Budapest is once again home to the festival. People from many countries come to party. Most of the international visitors come from the UK and the Netherlands. Among the biggest acts at this year’s festival are Tame Impala, Dua Lipa, Calvin Harris, Arctic Monkeys, but the most anticipated performer was the 28-year-old Canadian singer Justin Bieber.
Justin Bieber was the headliner of the festival on Friday. Bieber danced, sang and even had an impromptu part where he played the piano and was accompanied by his musicians. Bieber played all his hits. But the Canadian star started his concert early and finished it early. So those who were not there on time missed the singer’s intro and first songs. With many speculating where Bieber was rushing off to, it has now been revealed where he held his afterparty.
Read alsoBrutal accident happened during Budapest’s Sziget Festival – PHOTO
The Canadian star in a Hungarian fairytale castle
Justin Bieber partied at the Botaniq Castle in Tura after the Sziget. The 28-year-old singer posted photos on his Instragram page, taken by renowned American photographer and filmmaker Rory Kramer.
The singer was stunned by the bar, the wallpaper on the wall and the pattern on the floor. Bieber enjoyed the party in a Spiderman costume. He was accompanied to the castle by his wife Hailey Bieber and the musicians from the session. Rtl.hu reports that Justin also got into the cannabis business in California last year. In the published pictures you can also see some greenish plant debris, cigarette paper and tobacco.
The Schossberg Castle in Tura is now called the Botaniq Hotel. The castle belongs to István Tiborcz, the son-in-law of the Prime Minister. The castle is owned by the real estate investment company BDPST Group, of which Tiborcz is a major shareholder. The castle hotel opened in summer 2020. According to Telex.hu, it is operating at a loss.
A bejegyzés megtekintése az Instagramon
Read alsoVIDEO: Foreigners love the cheap drinks at Budapest’s Sziget Festival
Brutal accident happened during Budapest’s Sziget Festival – PHOTO
The accident happened yesterday during one of Central Europe’s biggest open-air festivals, Budapest’s Sziget.
According to hvg.hu, an acrobat fell on Friday afternoon when an element of a hoist came off in the circus tent. The media outlet said the artist stood on the hoist when the structure loosened, pinched her leg and fell with her. As a result, she plummeted about six metres.
The young girl is a member of the French La Burrasca circus company. According to borsonline.hu, she suffered multiple fractures on both her legs. Therefore, doctors are now struggling to save them from being amputated. Since she was stuck in the structure for 20 minutes, her legs were seriously injured.
The venue was the Cirque du Sziget, a tent of 1,000 places, where multiple companies perform daily. Here is a photo of the member of the French company:
Sziget Festival by public transport – everything you need to know
After a few year-long break, the Sziget Festival will return on Óbuda Island between 10 and 15 August 2022. During the festival, suburban railway line H5 will be departing more frequently and will be running even at night, and vehicles with bigger passenger capacity will be provided on night lines 901, 918 and 934 and there will be even a transfer line operating between the airport and the Óbuda Island.
BKK recommends that visitors arriving at the Sziget Festival use public transport, as in the surrounding area of the event, transport restrictions will be expected. Visitors in possession of a Budapest Card – Sziget Edition wristband will be able to use public transport services free-of-charge between 3 and 15 August – bkk.hu reported.
Road transport
Please note that during the Sziget Festival event, the Mozaik utca – Ángel Sanz Briz intersection, the Ángel Sanz Briz road and the Lower embankment on the Buda side between Mozaik utca and Margit híd will be closed.
Public transport
Please note that during the Sziget Festival to be held between 10 and 15 August:
- more frequent daytime services and also night services will be provided on suburban railway H5 between the section of Batthyány tér and Aquincum,
- higher capacity will be provided on night bus lines 901, 918 and 934,
- busline 226 will not serve Óbuda Island between 30 July and 21 August and will run only to Aquincum.
Read also: Horror prices at Sziget Festival 2022!
From 8 to 14 August, transfer buses will be running between Liszt Ferenc International Airport and the Óbuda Island. From 13 to 16 August, transfer buses will be running between the Óbuda Island to the airport.
Please note that the fastest transport mode to reach the venue of Sziget Festival, Óbuda Island is suburban railway H5 from which you have to get off at the Filatorigát stop.
At BKK Point to be found at the venue of the Sziget Festival, employees of BKK Centre for Budapest Transport assist visitors to provide information and also to select the proper tickets and passes.
Suburban railway H5 can be accessed from different points in Budapest, as follows:
- from the city centre, from the direction of Déli pályaudvar or Keleti pályaudvar, by metro line M2 to the Batthyány tér stop;
- From Dél-Buda, by tramline 19 or 41 to the Batthyány tér stop;
- from Liszt Ferenc International Airport, by bus line 100E, on which specific fares apply, to Deák Ferenc tér and transfer at the Deák Ferenc tér M stop to metro line M2 and get off at Batthyány tér;
- from Nyugati pályaudvar, by tramlines 4 and 6 to the Margit híd, budai hídfő stop;
- from Göncz Árpád városközpont, by tram line 1 to Szentlélek tér;
- from the Népliget regional bus station, by tram line 1 to Szentlélek tér;
- from the Puskás Ferenc Stadion bus station, by metro line M2 to the Batthyány tér stop; or by tramline 1 to Szentlélek tér.
Besides suburban railway line H5, the Sziget Festival is accessible by bus lines 9 and 109 from the Óbuda, Bogdáni út terminus or by bus lines 34, 106, 134 and 226 from the Kaszásdűlő H stop.
Your attention, please!
Metroline M3 will be in service during the event, accordingly:
- until 12 August, passengers can take replacement bus M3 between the section of Kőbánya-Kispest and Göncz Árpád városközpont, while metro line M3 will be in service between Göncz Árpád városközpont and Újpest-központ;
- on 13 and 14 August, replacement bus M3 will be in service on the entire line between Kőbánya-Kispest and Újpest-központ;
- on 15 and 16 August, metroline M3 will be in service between the sections of Kőbánya-Kispest and Kálvin tér, while replacement bus will be running between Kálvin tér and Újpest-központ;
- from 17 August, metroline M3 will be in service between the sections of Kőbánya-Kispest and Kálvin tér and Göncz Árpád városközpont, while replacement bus M3 will be running between Kálvin tér and Göncz Árpád városközpont.
Please find the maps about Budapest’s daytime and nighttime public transport service network at BKK’s website.
More information: BKK – Sziget.
BKK would like to kindly recommend that even during the Sziget Festival, passengers use the BudapestGO app to plan their trips, which, among others, calculates the most appropriate route for passengers to reach their destinations based on real-time information on public transport lines and passengers have the chance to even purchase their tickets and passes in the app.
VIDEO: Foreigners love the cheap drinks at Budapest’s Sziget Festival
Hungarians find the prices at Budapest’s Sziget Festival astonishingly high. Meanwhile, paying 2.5 euros for a beer is cheap for most foreigners taking part in one of Central Europe’s biggest events. The festival was cancelled in the last two years because of the coronavirus. But now, it is back and ready to entertain each guest coming from any part of the world.
We reported HERE that the journalists of szeretlekmagyarorszag.hu found horror prices at this year’s Sziget festival. Of course, they compared prices to the Hungarian wages. However, for foreigners, Budapest’s Sziget on the Óbuda Island of the Danube is much cheaper than other similar Western European events.
Szmo.hu asked them why they like to come to one of Central Europe’s biggest events. They praised the atmosphere and the cheapness. The festival returned after a two-year-long hiatus. However, it seems nobody forgot it. It opened on the first day with 95 thousand guests, which meant a full-house.
- Read also: Horror prices at Sziget Festival 2022!
“So lovely. And I really like the vibe of the festival already. Only ‘been here for one day”, a Dutch tourist told the Hungarian media outlet.
“We have been really looking forward to this. Because of the pandemic, we could not get together, could not go to festivals”, another guest said.
“Good costumes, good vibes, good drinks, such good energy. So, it is just the beginning”, a woman said. A Portuguese girl said that the beer in Hungary is very cheap. In Portugal, they would have to pay twice as much as in Budapest, at least. An Israeli tourist said that compared to Budapest, the drink is expensive. But if we compare it to the drinks in Israel, it is cheap.
“I love that I can buy a beer for just like 2 euros and fifty cents”,
a guest from the Netherlands said. Meanwhile, others found a slice of pizza for 2,000 HUF (5 euro) and gyros for 3,500 HUF (8.88 euro) expensive.
A Hungarian guest said a lot changed compared to 2019. There are more foreigners, but the quality is higher, he added. Another said that the first and the second in 1980 and 1981 were organized badly, now there are a lot of programs, not only music and no one has to wait hours for a drink.
Two girls even gave some advice: you should wear comfortable shoes and some unique clothes. As a result, you can stand out from the crowd. A grandmother said she accompanied her grandchild because she was cool and liked music.
Here is the video:
Horror prices at Sziget Festival 2022!
After a three-year hiatus, Sziget Festival finally returns in 2022. However, prepare for horror prices this year! Beer will cost HUF 1,290 (EUR 3,23), mineral water HUF 850 (EUR 2,13), and the cheapest hamburger HUF 4,500 (EUR 11,28).
Horror prices due to inflation
Since 2019, inflation has become a serious issue, and it affects the popular Hungarian festival, too. – reports szeretlekmagyarorszag.hu. Tickets already cost a fortune, but food and drinks are also quintessential parts of a festival. Blikk listed the prices of the most popular street foods and beverages, which you can see below:
Drinks
- Dreher draft beer HUF 1,290 (EUR 3,23)
- canned beer HUF 1,390 (EUR 3,48)
- cider HUF 1,590 (EUR 3,98)
- short drinks: 4 cl vodka, whiskey, brandy or rum HUF 1,950 (EUR 4,89)
- wine is HUF 690 (EUR 1,73)/dl
- mineral water HUF 850 (EUR 2,13)
- cocktails from HUF 4,000 (EUR 10,02)
Foods
- Hamburgers from HUF 4,500 (EUR 11,28)
- Gyros from HUF 3600 (EUR 9,02)
- A slice of pizza from HUF 1,990 (EUR 4,99)
Although these prices may seem expensive at first, it must be noted that in international terms, this price list is still considered to be on the cheaper side. – writes Forbes.
Read also20th August: Beer, wine, food to be cheap during the Szent István Day in Budapest
VIP for HUF 57-59,000 (EUR 142,82-147,83)
Despite the significant price rise, organisers expect a full house on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Especially on Wednesday, when Dua Lipa will perform. In addition, they warn the audience that if they do not want to miss out they should buy their tickets in advance. They also redesigned the internal traffic of Sziget so that the entry and exit work in the safest possible way during rush hours.
To ensure a private and exclusive experience for those who can allow it, the VIP section awaits guests for HUF 57-59,000 (EUR 142,82-147,83). However, the Wednesday, Friday and Saturday tickets for this price are already sold out. Organisers are offering VIP guests a special lane entry, an expanded main stage stand and new VIP zones.
Green Sziget Festival
According to the organisers, this year’s Sziget will be greener than ever. Along with the ticket, visitors can also buy wood to create a CO2 compensation forest, while the festival, in close cooperation with Coca-Cola, also launches PET bottle collection days. Moreover, they also offer repo food (which has not received very favorable press coverage lately) and degradable tableware.
To get more general info on Sziget, read our article here!
Read alsoThis is where world-famous stars live in Budapest and what their special requests are
Sziget – Police running crime prevention point at festival
Police have set up a crime and accident prevention point within the area of the Sziget Festival, with uniformed and plainclothes police on duty in large numbers on Hajógyári Island, according to a Budapest Police Headquarters (BRFK) spokesman.
Patrols are also operating around the island and at traffic junctions, Gergely Fülöp told a press conference held at the crime prevention point on Wednesday. The police are deploying officers who speak several languages at the point, he added.
- Read also: The rise and fall of the Hungarian forint
Staff of the national immigration directorate are also available at the crime prevention point between 1pm and 7pm to help foreigner visitors who have lost their personal ID. Fülöp warned festival-goers not to leave their valuables in tents and to use lockers and lockable boxes available on the festival grounds instead.
Any complaints can be made to the Budapest 3rd district police station, and police at the crime prevention point will provide directions. Meanwhile police officers patrolling the river on jet skis can come to the aid of anyone in trouble within minutes. Also, the BRFK is running a recruitment point for border agents, he said.
Read alsoEverything you need to know about Budapest’s Sziget Festival 2022!
Justin Bieber confirms performance at Sziget Festival
Justin Bieber has confirmed that he will give a concert at the Sziget Festival on August 12, the festival’s organisers told MTI on Tuesday.
The multiple award winning Canadian pop singer cancelled several of his shows in June due to a medical condition. He said on social media that “I have this syndrome called Ramsay Hunt syndrome. It is from this virus that attacks the nerve in my ear and my facial nerves and has caused my face to have paralysis”.
- Read also: Guide for foreign students in Budapest
Bieber is one of the main star performers of this year’s Sziget Festival to be held on Budapest’s Hajogyari Island between August 10-15. The festival was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Bieber is scheduled to return to Budapest next year to give a concert in the Hungarian capital in March.
5 must-visit international summer events in Budapest! – VIDEOS
No matter whether you are an ex-pat living in Budapest or a fun-loving tourist visiting the Hungarian capital, summer 2022 awaits you with numerous awesome international events. Do not miss out on the biggest parties of the season!
Sziget Festival
After two years of interruption due to the pandemic, Hungary’s most renowned festival returns in 2022! This summer, Sziget Festival welcomes visitors from all around the globe to spend an unforgettable week together on the Island of Freedom.
According to the festival’s website, there are more than 100 reasons to visit Sziget this year.
Between 10 and 15 August 2022, festival lovers can enjoy the performances of such world-famous artists as the Arctic Monkeys, Calvin Harris, Dua Lipa, Justin Bieber, Kings of Leon, Lewis Capaldi, Steve Aoki, etc.
Daily tickets are available from HUF 28,000 (EUR 80), but hardcore Sziget fans can choose from multi-day passes. For accommodation options and additional services, including information on the Sziget Cruisin Boat Party, check out the official website of the Sziget Festival.
FINA World Cup
Sports fans will have plenty of excitement to look forward to if they visit Budapest this summer. Between 18 June and 3 July 2022, the world’s best swimmers will come to Hungary within the framework of the FINA World Cup.
Visitors can follow la crème de la crème competing with each other in various disciplines such as open-water swimming, water polo, regular and high diving and artistic swimming. In regard to the venues in Budapest, the swimming tournaments will take place in the Danube Arena, diving competitions in the Széchy Swimming Pool on Margaret Island and water polo matches will be held at the Alfréd Hajós National Swimming Stadium. Following these events, the competition will continue in Debrecen, Sopron and Szeged.
Sparty – The Grand Budapest Bath Party
If you are looking for the ultimate pool party experience, then book your spot at one of the Sparty events this summer.
The unmissable bath event will bring together party-goers who appreciate quality electronic dance music and mind-blowing visual effects in Budapest’s most spectacular spa, the Széchenyi Thermal Bath.
The impressive event is extremely popular among international visitors. Tens of thousands attend the famous bath parties on warm Saturday nights to enjoy the balmy waters and the energetic tunes – reports Spartybooking.
Budapest Gourmet Festival
There are plenty of activities on offer this summer in Budapest for foodies who have a thing for Hungarian and international cuisine and for people with a more sophisticated palate for exquisite cuisine. Budapest’s Gourmet Festival awaits gastronomy fans this weekend at Millenáris Park. Apart from the wide range of programmes and interactive workshops, visitors can taste special local and international dishes and exotic specialities prepared by award-winning chefs. To get a real feel of the festival’s atmosphere, check out their official aftermovie!
If you are one of those people who gets excited by the idea of a sourdough pancake with bear onion and organic cheese or you always wanted to savour a plate of delicious truffle panna cotta, then do not miss Budapest’s most famous Gourmet Festival this weekend! Participants can also choose from a selection of vegetarian, lactose-free and gluten-free dishes. A one-day ticket is available at the price of HUF 4900 (EUR 12.69) while a 3-day pass costs HUF 9900 (EUR 25.65) on the event’s website.
Budapest Wine Festival
Hungarian wine enthusiasts will also find something to their liking when they visit Budapest in the upcoming months. After three memorable decades, Hungary’s favourite wine festival awaits visitors this year as well in the heart of Europe. Similarly to previous years, the grand event will take place in Budapest’s World Heritage Site, the Buda Castle which offers magnificent vistas of the Hungarian capital. Last year, nearly 25,000 people visited the four-day Wine Festival to attend professional and entertainment programs. Besides wine tasting, visitors can also flavour gastronomic delights and listen to many concerts held on two stages – as the event’s website informs us.
Tourists and locals alike can enjoy another memorable wine and champagne festival in June as well. As Eventland reports,
the 5-day wine and champagne festival in Budapest’s city centre offers an atmospheric, open-air wine and champagne drinking experience from 2 to 6 June!
The most prominent representatives of Hungarian wineries and sparkling wine cellars will participate in the event in the 5th district of Budapest, in Szabadság Square. The festival is free of entry.
Read alsoLuxury travel magazine: Budapest among the 7 coolest destinations in the world!
Sziget explodes again with Justin Bieber, Calvin Harris, Tame Impala among the acts
Justin Bieber, Calvin Harris, Tame Impala, Sam Fender and Anne-Marie will perform at this year’s Sziget festival, which will take place from August 10 to 15.
In addition to the previously announced forty performers, another thirty or so artists have been added to the programme.
Among the new names announced is the Grammy Award-winning Canadian star Justin Bieber, who was nominated for the MTV VMA Award in most categories last year, and who won the Grammy for Artist of the Year and Best Pop Video.
The Scottish DJ Calvin Harris, one of the world’s best DJs, will be performing at the closing party of the 2014 Sziget festival.
This year’s Sziget will feature a number of artists with fresh recordings. Australia’s Tame Impala will launch his album The Slow Rush at the festival, while Sam Fender, one of the most promising talents at the festival and winner of the Best British Alternative/Rock Artist at this year’s Brit Awards, will promote his new album Seventeen Going Under.
Also coming with a fresh album, Therapy, due in 2021, is fellow Brit Anne-Marie, Holly Humberstone and German techno group Meute, made up of percussionists and wind players.
The list of acts announced on Tuesday also includes Steve Aoki, Nina Kraviz and Milky Chance, Bad Gyal, Channel Tres, Kensington, Ofenbach, Mezerg, Noga Erez, Seth Troxler, Kölsch, Folamour, Role Model, Cate Le Bon, Tourist, Myd, Remi Wolf, Alfie Templeman, Kid Francescoli, Denis Sulta & Mella Dee and Dirtyphonics.
The organisers have previously announced that Arctic Monkeys, Dua Lipa, Kings of Leon, Bastille, Stromae and Lewis Capaldi will be among the acts performing on this year’s Island.
- The same article in Hungarian: Újra nagyot robbant a Sziget: Justin Bieber, Calvin Harris, Tame Impala is a fellépők között
Read also: Hungary takes first and second for best value music festivals in the world!
Read alsoThe biggest booms of 2022 in Hungary – an event calendar
The biggest booms of 2022 in Hungary – an event calendar
We cannot let you step into 2022 without giving you a list of programmes for the year. Here it is! Browse this event calendar and it is guaranteed that you will find something that awakens your interest.
Whether you want to have a calmer spring and a busy summer, or vise versa, fear not. Here you will find a variety of programmes for next year. Mark your calendars, 2022 promises to be a busy one. You can see the events in chronological order.
1. Made in Pécs Festival – January 8
If you want to start the year with a festival, Pécs is waiting for you at the beginning of January! For the 7th time, a great list of bands and artists from Pécs will be there on the 8th to entertain visitors. The concept of the festival is the same as the past 6 occasions. The festival starts at 10 am and takes place in seven clubs of the city (Pécsi Est, Made In Pécs Café, Trafik, Nappali, Szabadkikötő, Ti-Ti-Tá and Sárkány Barlang), with around 100 bands playing until late in the evening.
2. Mohácsi Busójárás – February 24 – March 1
Búsó-walking is an annual celebration of the Šokci (a Slavic ethnic group) living in the town of Mohács, Hungary, held at the end of the Carnival (farsang) season. During the celebration, Busós are wearing traditional masks and are parading and dancing to folk music. Busójárás lasts for six days in Mohács, starting on a Thursday in February, and ends with the Burial of Farsang (Farsangtemetés) the next Thursday. There will be countless programs, also suited for families, so don’t miss out on visiting Mohács in two months!
3. Bartók Tavasz 2022 Budapest – April 1 – 17
Those keen on classical music and its adaptation into modern arts, this festival is for you. As the official description of the event says,
On the 140th anniversary of the birth of the world-famous Hungarian composer Béla Bartók, Bartók Spring International Art Weeks was launched in spring 2021, a unique series of all-arts events.
Every year, the festival programme offers an insight into Bartók’s impressive oeuvre. However, it does not exclusively present the compositions of the world-famous composer. Rather, it aims to showcase Bartók’s spirit, creativity and creative approach in a wide range of genres, from contemporary classical music to world music, jazz, dance, visual arts and popular music, through the works of the best of the Hungarian and international art scene.
4. Deja Vu Festival 2022 Szeged – June 3 – 5
Szeged is ready to start the summer for you. Get back in the time machine and party with the foreign stars of the ’90s and ’00s! 2022’s line-up is the following: Coolio, La Bouche, Alexandra Stan, Kate Ryan and more. Get your tickets here! Early-bird tickets are sold out, but you have the opportunity to purchase an Xmas Special Season ticket for a reduced price. If you only decide to go after it’s well past Christmas, worry not, you can buy ticket on the spot as well.
5. VOLT Festival Sopron – June 21 – 25
One of Hungary’s biggest festivals is on again this year! In 2021, it was cancelled due to the pandemic situation. But this year, Sopron opens its gates again. So far, the confirmed line-up is Muse, Bring Me The Horizon, Sum 41, Yungblud, Skillet, Passenger, Scarlxrd, Borgore, Virtual Riot, FuntCase, and the list is constantly expanding! Grab your tickets and passes here!
- Read also: From Vienna to Budapest for NYE
6. Balaton Sound Festival 2022 – June 29 – July 2
Just a couple of days after we leave Sopron, we are going down to the Hungarian sea, Lake Balaton! Nothing like a great time where a beach is an arm’s length from the festival camp. Tickets are to be available shortly on the official Balaton Sound website.
7. Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix 2022 – July 29 – 31
If you are an F1 fan, you don’t want to miss out on the Hungarian Grand Prix of the 2022 Formula One World Championship! The races will be held at Hungaroring between 29 and 31 July. Get your tickets here!
8. SZIGET Festival Budapest – August 10 – 15
SZIGET is one of Europe’s biggest popular music and cultural event, held every August in Budapest on Óbuda Island. Just like VOLT, SZIGET was also cancelled last year due to the pandemic, but festival lovers won’t have to go another year without this huge musical event. We can say that SZIGET Festival’s line-up rivals that of VOLT: you can meet Dua Lipa, Arctic Monkeys, and Alan Walker, among others. Check the whole list of artists here!
Read alsoHere are the rules to purchase pyrotechnical products in Hungary
Hungary takes first and second for best value music festivals in the world!
Music festivals are loved all around the globe. There is nothing quite like coming together in a crowd of people, united in good music and an electric atmosphere. But with 2020’s festival roster effectively cancelled, and 2021 saw only a partial return, 2022 looks set to be a year like no other as music festivals make their long-awaited return.
That’s why we’ve found out which are the best value festivals around the world, ranking the best events for music lovers to visit so that they can have a revival with a bang – and for their buck. We compiled the index by analysing a variety of factors that every music festival reveller will deem important and we then identified which events around the world rank the best for these factors. This included the ticket value, which was analysed by comparing the cost of the ticket in comparison to the festival’s headliners, as well as the price of a beer, burger and t-shirt at the event.
Balaton Sound, Hungary
Balaton Sound is one of Europe’s largest open air electronic music festivals. Held annually since 2007 on the south bank of Lake Balaton in Hungary, it features live acts and DJs from all around the world right from established artists through to up-and-coming names. And considering that Hungary is considered to be one of the cheapest countries in Europe, it’s not surprising that Balaton Sound has taken the top spot as the best value music festival in the world.
The 5-day festival ranked highly for the price of food and drink with prices for a beer and burger coming in at £1.70 and £3.66 respectively – absolute bargain! Balaton Sound also ranked highly for anyone looking to take home some memorabilia as the cost for a festival t-shirt is less than £10.
Sziget Festival, Hungary
And it’s another Hungarian festival in the second spot – Sziget Festival. The festival is one of the largest music and cultural festivals in Europe, with more than 1,000 performances taking place each year. Meaning “the island” in Hungarian, Sziget is held every August on Óbudai-sziget, a leafy 108-hectare island in northern Budapest on the Danube.
Here are the best concerts to catch in Budapest
The festival is quite an event but offers fantastic value for money with the £300 ticket working out at £44 per day – not bad at all when you’re enjoying the likes of the Foo Fighters, Ed Sheeran and Florence + The Machine!
EXIT Festival, Serbia
EXIT is a summer music festival held at Petrovaradin Fortress in Novi Sad, Serbia. Founded in 2000, it won the ‘Best Major Festival’ award at the European Festivals Awards in 2013 and 2017, as well as the ‘Best European Festival’ award at the UK Festival Awards in 2007.
The Serbian festival ranked second cheapest for getting a bite to eat, with a burger coming in at around £3.00. EXIT also ranked highly for the price of a ticket in comparison to its headliners. 2019 saw The Cure, Carl Cox and Tom Walker all take to the stage and, with a combined concert ticket price of £193.88, EXIT festival’s £89.00 price is an absolute steal!
Street Parade, Switzerland
In August, Zurich comes alive as hundreds of thousands of people take to the street for the most attended techno parade in the world, Street Parade. Brightly adorned trucks, called ‘love mobiles’, packed with great music systems and top DJs drive slowly through the crowd of people around Lake Zurich. Street Parade is known as a peaceful electronic music festival – a positive demonstration of peace, generosity, love, tolerance and freedom.
Street Parade takes the top spot for the best value festival in the world in terms of the artists playing. The combined total of the top headliners may be less than other festivals but considering that it’s completely free to attend and hosts acts such as Elrow, John Digweed, and Andros Campo, Street Parade is undoubtedly excellent value.
Colours of Ostrava, Czech Republic
One of the biggest international music festivals in Europe, Colours of Ostrava is an eclectic multi-genre event held on the grounds of a former ironworks factory in Dolní Vítkovice Ostrava. Each year, the festival brings some of the biggest names in rock, pop, indie, and electronic artists to the Czech Republic.
Any beer fans should definitely head to the 4-day event as the price of a beer is considerably cheaper than the majority of other festivals around the world, coming in at only £1.44. Colours of Ostrava is also great value for money as a £112.19 ticket enables you to see huge names such as The Cure, Florence + The Machine and Rag’n’Bone Man.
Read the original study HERE.
