Time flies by – it's hard to believe that a whole year has passed, and the Sziget Festival is here yet again. Like every year, we were so impatient for the party to start that we headed out before the festival even began to check out the atmosphere, all while the main stage was being constructed, the first tourists were flowing in, and the bars were slowly stocked. Of course we didn't just chill out, we found out what's new this year... and did a double-take when we saw the price of a beer.
The start date of this year's Sziget Festival – August 11 – may have surprised some, but organizers say they decided to push the event forward by one week so that international acts could more easily fit Budapest's main festival into their touring schedules. The result is a stronger lineup, including Blink 182, Anti Flag, Queens of the Stone Age, Placebo, Korn, Lily Allen, Prodigy, Jimmy Eat World, Bordy Dalle, and Macklemore.
But of course, this year, like always, it's not the bands and performers that will be at the center of the "Island of Freedom" party. Yet again, the infrastructure that goes into setting up the party town at Óbudai Island will create the atmosphere that has made Sziget Festivals of past years so good. Possibly the only real change is that this year there's a little bit more of everything.
This mini-nation, set on 76 hectares, was built by 8,000 people over three weeks and is the result is a truly complete set-up for "Szitizens" to enjoy. There are 15,000 square meters of wood planking to make pathways and platforms, 2,400 square meters of metal flooring, 255 offices, and huge storage facilities. The cordons to create the various pathways and sections arrived on 25 trucks!
This year the facilities at Sziget have the capacity to service 85,000 people at once. Every central point has about 45 to 50 lit toilets, and there's a total of 2,000 temporary commodes.
This year's visual effects have also undergone improvements and upgrades. There are a total of 40 kilometers' worth of decorative lighting around the island to tantalize the eyes of festival-goers. There will also be something like 30 visual displays, making Sziget look more beautiful than ever. The most monumental construction on Sziget is the Hellowood Colosseum, built using 3,000 pallets.
Organizers are expecting to break all kinds of records – including attendance – so a larger staff is on hand to help make Sziget run smoothly. There'll be 400 healthcare attendants available to keep revelers alive and happy. Additionally, 1,500 security guards, plainclothes police, and overseas cops will also help make sure festival-goers abide the law and stay safe.
To pay for anything on the island, the Festipay card (or PayPass) must again be used. For 500 HUF you can get one of these Festipay cards once you're on the island, and you can top it up onsite too.
To make using your mobile phone at Sziget possible, there are four temporary mobile towers. To help prevent the stress of losing your mobile phone, Sziget is offering the Festfone scheme. Disposable phones are on sale for the relatively "cheap" price of 15,000 HUF. On the topic of phones, there's also a Sziget app to save festival attendees time. The app can be downloaded by iPhone and Android users.
It's definitely possible that this year there'll be a record number of visitors to Sziget, given that even before the official opening there was already quite a big crowd gathering. At the national cigarette shop near the entrance, there was already a 20-minute queue forming, while at the stands selling cold beer there's already a 5-10 minute wait.
We weren't so happy about the prices: a can of beer was 740 HUF, and you can probably imagine the prices for everything else based on this standard. So, we don't want to spread any more depressing news... but here's just one more
tidbit –
one "giant"
slice
of pizza (that wasn't even all that
giant) was 800 HUF.
This year We Love Budapest will also be out at Sziget. Our stand is next to the Sziget Immigration Center, right near the main entrance. Come by and say hi!
