Tickets and festival entryAs of Monday, all advance-purchase weeklong passes are sold out – the earliest point in time that this has ever occurred in the festival’s 22-year-long history – although an extra 1,000 weeklong passes and 1,000 five-day non-camping passes are now being made available for purchase at the main entrance, and passes for individual days can still be purchased for each day of the festival (August 11-18). If you hope to get one of the extra weeklong passes, arrive as early as possible to the main Sziget gate, because they are being sold on a first-come, first-served basis.Offers to buy Sziget passes are rife on unauthorized websites and among dodgy deviants throughout the area surrounding the main festival gate, but don’t be tempted – oftentimes the tickets they sell are forgeries, and security is tight at the entrance; after being bounced because your pass is fake, good luck with getting your money back from the long-gone scalper. Buying day passes in advance through the official Sziget website is the most secure way to ensure that you will get a genuine ticket; of course, tickets bought at the gate are the real deal, but unless it’s quite early in the day, you will probably have to wait in long lines before laying eyes on a cashier.
Prior to crossing the welcoming bridge onto Óbudai Island, check to make sure that you aren’t bringing any banned items, especially alcoholic beverages – in the area just before the security gates, you’ll almost always find a mini-festival of booze-chugging ticketholders blocked from entering until they get rid of liquor supplies that were intended to last for days. Other prohibited items include knives with a blade longer than eight centimeters, glass objects, umbrellas, baseball bats, Molotov cocktails, and anything else that could possibly cause bad vibes – and you aren’t supposed to bring drugs, either.
Things to bringNaturally, what you need at the festival depends on personal preferences and the duration of your stay, but for almost everyone attending Sziget for the entire week, the following items can prove invaluable:
TISSUES/TOILET PAPER: No matter how long you stay at Sziget, this is a precious commodity for obvious reasons.
GLASSES: If you ordinarily wear contact lenses, leave them at home – the continually trampled ground of Sziget is a terrible place to look for a lost lens.
PROTECTION FROM THE ELEMENTS: Weather can be unpredictable in Budapest (especially this summer), so make sure to bring both rain gear and sunscreen. Insect repellent is a good idea, too.
PROTECTION FROM FELLOW HUMANS: Part of the beauty of Sziget is its romantic unpredictability. Bring condoms, and carry at least one with you wherever you go – this advice applies if you’re a guy or girl or anything in-between.
EARPLUGS: If you’re close to some stages, the noise can be literally deafening; for those camping on the island, these two small pieces of foam will improve your sleep considerably.
SMOKERS’ SUPPLIES: It is possible to buy cigarettes at Sziget, but after Hungary’s recent tobacco-sales regulations that strictly curtail vendors, there are very few authorized tobacco shops on the island, so it’s best to bring (up to 20) packs with you so that you can avoid long lines. Don’t forget lighters and rolling papers (for those who have use of them).
FORINTS: Currency-exchange services are offered at Sziget, but again lines can be long, and the exchange rates for Hungarian forints are usually more expensive than they are at similar offices in central Budapest.
PROPER FOOTWEAR: Flip-flops are great for daytime Sziget adventures, but after dark it’s best to wear closed-toe shoes that you don’t really care too much about anymore – unintentional foot-stomping happens all too frequently in concert crowds.
Staying at SzigetAnyone with a weeklong pass or multiple day passes for consecutive days is entitled to camp on the island, although many other accommodations are available nearby the festival site (check this website for options). Those who do choose to sleep at Sziget for the whole week will be rewarded with the complete music-festival experience and plenty of wild tales to tell friends later, but some basic survivalist strategies will go a long way toward improving living conditions during a week of camping amid hard-partying masses.
To truly enjoy your small private sanctuary at Sziget, your choice of campsite is absolutely crucial, and completely dependent on what open spaces are still available when you first arrive, so campers should come to Sziget as early as possible and immediately go about finding a good location directly after passing through the security checkpoint. Early on in the festival there are many tree-shaded camping spaces available, but try to find spots that are sheltered from sunshine in the morning hours, unless you plan to awaken at dawn every day – a cheap pocket compass is invaluable to help you determine your campsite’s orientation so that the sun rises behind a tree or shrubbery to the east. Pitching your tent on elevated terrain is an excellent way to avoid flooding in case of rain – and this is particularly important if you are camping anywhere near portable toilets (which are always best avoided if it’s at all possible).Speaking of nature’s call, while Sziget management strongly discourages using trees and bushes as toilets, many festivalgoers disregard this basic rule of decency, so it’s a good idea to avoid camping in any site that is near a sheltered patch of wilderness that may attract urinating delinquents. Additionally, since the temporary population of Sziget establishes unofficial paths through camping areas wherever walking is possible, consider your tent’s configuration so that you don’t end up having a steady parade of passersby staggering right in front of your shelter – if camping along with friends in multiple tents, find a big enough space to create a circle, and this will help discourage foot traffic through your shared settlement.
Depending on what type of reveler you are, strategically choose your campsite to be near the stage that suits your sleeping patterns best – some venues (such as the World Village Stage and the Blues Stage) host their final concert relatively early every night, so the surrounding campsites are fairly quiet afterwards; meanwhile, the major electronica venues keep blasting beats until after dawn every day, so getting some shuteye nearby during nighttime can be difficult or impossible.Finally, when taking care of basic hygienic necessities, try to pick times when showers and toilets will be as empty as possible – aside from the convenience of using these facilities without having to wait in huge lines, you also reduce the chances of finding yourself falling victim to nearby pranksters…
Day-to-day doingsWhether attending Sziget for a single night or the entire week, one piece of advice is absolutely imperative to have a good time – drink plenty of water. Everyone is allowed to bring one plastic bottle of non-alcoholic beverage (2.5 liters maximum) into the festival, but there are also plenty of places to get drinking water inside, either for purchase or free. On that note, make sure to eat properly, especially if staying for the entire week – pizza slices and hot dogs will get you by for awhile, but many diverse types of full meals are available that actually include the nutrients a body needs to dance through night after night.When planning which concerts and events to attend, make sure to give yourself plenty of time to travel between venues – the Sziget Festival covers a remarkable amount of space on Óbudai Island, and during peak times the foot traffic on the main pathways can become incredibly congested, slowing down your progress considerably. Once you become familiar with the festival grounds, you can try forging a path through camping areas and smaller trails, but it’s easy to become disoriented – particularly if you are already discombobulated from the evening’s earlier activities.
If you do indulge in intoxicants, make a point to pace yourself properly – strewn about the Sziget grounds, one finds numerous casualties of rapid overconsumption sprawled out on the floor writhing in discomfort and unable to enjoy all of the great attractions surrounding them. Be careful not to pass out in a place that will be drenched by scalding sunlight, and if you spot someone who is incapacitated and exposed to unrelenting sunbeams, take care of your fellow festivalgoer by awakening them or getting a Sziget official to help them. If you have too much of a good thing and actually feel that your health is in danger, or if you sustain any serious injury, do not hesitate to stumble over to the nearest medical professional to request help; emergency healthcare is provided at no cost to festivalgoers. (For comprehensive information about seeking healthcare in Hungary, check out our article about this.)
Most importantly of all, make sure to explore the countless opportunities at Sziget to try new things and meet new people – from world-class cultural draws to bungee jumping, there are plenty of interesting diversions awaiting just a few steps beyond the performance areas, and while a lot of these are included in the Sziget website’s program information, many of them are best discovered simply by following your curiosity while drifting about the island. Like-minded people tend to congregate at the more offbeat venues, leading to increased potential to make new acquaintances.
For many more tips about how best to enjoy Sziget and its plethora of appealing attractions, check out www.szigetfestival.com or visit the festival’s information booth at downtown Pest’s Nyugati Square.
