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Sziget Festival is fast becoming one of the most-loved music festivals in Europe. Taking place over the course of an entire week, the festival welcomes around 1,000 performers and over 90,000 people each year.
2018 is looking like it’ll be one of the most exciting Sziget Festivals yet. Here’s what you should expect if you have tickets.
One of Sziget’s signature features is its unique location. The festival takes place on ‘Óbudai-sziget’, which translates from Hungarian as ‘Old Buda Island’. The island, in northern Budapest, is completely transformed for the festival, and it will be once again for 2018.
This year’s Sziget lineup is one of the best in its more than two decades of history. It’s also one of this summer’s most impressive. Big-name headliners include Arctic Monkeys, Dua Lipa, Gorillaz, Kendrick Lamar, Lana Del Rey, Stormzy, Liam Gallagher, and many more.
Electronic music heads have reason to rejoice, too. As well as many other talented DJs, Dutch duo Zonderling will be performing on Monday 13th August. The Zonderling set is expected to draw huge crowds, as the duo’s single ‘Crazy’ has become a summer club and festival favourite across the continent. The track reached the top ten airplay chart in Europe, a feat almost unheard of for a dance music release.
It’s significant that Sziget bills itself as a ‘music and cultural festival’. Set up after the fall of the USSR, the festival has always been a bastion for the arts. Alongside the music, the festival is known for its otherworldly atmosphere. It’s been compared to the US’s Burning Man festival in that it offers complete immersion in a constructed environment, combining art, music, and an alternative lifestyle to the daily grind. Sziget’s environment is arguably more elaborate than Burning Man, with an entire amusement park, chill out areas and even its own beach.
The cultural side of the festival will also be represented with talks. Speakers from the likes of Greenpeace, Amnesty International, and TEDx. Dance performances will also take place over the week from a variety of troupes.
Due to the size of the festival, it’s no surprise that there will be several stages with a diverse range of musical acts. The World Music stage has a particularly exciting lineup, with Plaza Francia Orchestra, Transglobal Underground feat. Natacha Atlas, Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino, and many others will bring sounds from around the globe to the island.
Its island location gives the festival the unique opportunity to host boat parties — an opportunity they seize every day. Each of the festival’s boat parties will be soundtracked by a different DJ. Krafty Kuts, Alle Farben, Vunzige Deuntjes, Popof, Eelke Kleijn, Chelina Manuhutu, and Gorgon City will all take to the booth as revellers take to the seas.
Since it welcomes festival-goers from all over the world, Sziget Festival 2018 has pledged to embody the values of what it refers to as a ‘love revolution’. In practice, this means:
Living in a peaceful world without wars and nuclear threats
Sharing an environment where no one can be discriminated or insulted based on their skin color, religion or sexual identity
Placing sustainability and environmental protection at the heart of our daily lives,
Respecting everyone’s human rights regardless of their origin.
By keeping the love revolution in mind, ‘szitizens’ of Sziget Festival can be sure the good times continue long after the festival closes its doors.
Get tickets for Sziget Festival here. Book Zonderling to bring the Dutch DJ duo to your venue.
