If you’ve ever visited the Sziget Festival, you know why it was already honored as the European Festival of the Year twice already. In 2015, the festival returns with numerous surprises and changes, such as upgraded visuals, new venues (and some old venues popping up in new locations), and an expanded range of services.
“You cannot just sit back thinking that the festival is good. We are always thinking changes, innovation, ways of standing out,” explained festival honcho
Károly Gerendai at the press conference aboard A38 Ship
on May 14th. He added that people weren’t travelling to Hungary from afar because the stars cannot make to their countries: they come to see them in a completely unique setting, one that is worth a complete holiday. The magnitude of the Sziget Festival is well apparent from the fact that it is the number-one tourist attraction in Hungary today; 90% of the festival passes are sold abroad; and the budget of the event is 4.4 billion forints.
Growth, however, requires progress: organizers feel that navigating the festival is increasingly difficult, hence Szitizens tend to miss out on more and more things. In order to alleviate the situation, they will divide Sziget into zones, categorizing programs into fields of interests. Due to the resulting “landscaping”, many venues will move from their usual location to a new spot. The A38 Stage, for instance, will grow in size and be placed closer to the entrance, and the space in front of the Main Stage will also be enlarged.
There will also be fresh
novelties, such as the creative zone with tents for logic games, the Chess Association, start-ups, TED talks, and video games. Another new addition is the Design Zone, with everything from industrial design to 3D printing, hosted by Design Terminal.
Of course, guests would only enjoy their Sziget experience if the infrastructure, hospitality, number of toilets and trash cans, public lighting, WIFI coverage, and the showers are all up to scratch: this year, promoters have paid special attention to these “infrastructure”
issues.
Miscellaneous services are also improving and multiplying: there are plans to optimize access to the festival grounds, with Budapest’s
public-transport company BKK
open to the suggestion of running their dedicated bus service right up to the entrance of the festival area in the middle of the dockyards, plus working
toward expanding the capacity of its ferryboat lines. A special
extra service being offered this year is the option to occupy pre-pitched tents, available to rent for those who are happy to
camp on the island, but don't want to deal with hauling tents
to the festival.
“I am convinced that the wide range of programs and services, in addition to the unique location, the colorful spectacles, and the diverse installations enhance the sense that Sziget is not simply one of the numerous great festivals, but truly the Island of Freedom. The
Sziget Festival Republic offers an experience unmatched elsewhere. These factors together added up to Sziget’s popularity so that it could clinch the title of Europe’s best twice,” said Gerendai.
