There were many memorable moments at Sziget 2019 but perhaps none more than Dave Grohl inviting wheelchair-bound Gal Mizrachi up on stage to join his Foo Fighters. A new film, ‘Wheels of Madness’, shows Gal’s story to be even more remarkable.
Understandably nervous on his first visit to Sziget in 2015, wheelchair-bound music fan Gal Mizrachi is now a festival veteran, planning his summer around Europe’s main music celebrations.
“Sziget changed the way I party,” says this 33-year-old resident of Tel-Aviv. “I am the party! I want to live in this place!”
Gal, whose disabilities affect not only his movement but his speech and his sight – he struggles to see signs at airports and stations when making the long journey all the way from Israel every summer – uses a basketball wheelchair to travel.
His whole life changed when he saw Roger Waters perform Pink Floyd’s The Wall and realised that the limitations in his life were not only physical but mental. Throw in a crowd of kind-hearted, strong-armed partygoers gathered on an island outside Budapest, an eminently accessible festival, and you have one happy camper.
Anyone who watches Gal explaining how he describes his Budapest experiences to his family back home cannot fail to be moved.
“You have to take a leap of faith,” says Gal, “and trust the people around you”.
