Sziget – Island of Freedom

Hungary – August 2015/2019

I have been lucky enough to attend the Sziget Festival in Budapest – one of the world’s largest music festivals – twice already. First in 2015 with 3 childhood friends from Switzerland, and again in 2019 with my dear friend Cinzia from Milan, IT. Before we jump into my experiences, a quick overview in numbers: first held 1993. lasts for 7 days. >500’000 visitors. >60 stages. >100 acts. Winner “European Festival of the Year” 2011 & 2014. The secret to its success lies in the unique location on a Danube island, its proximity to the Budapest city centre and the huge variety of shows – from any genre of music, circus and art to yoga, sports and meditation – Sziget has it all. There are literally all kinds of people coming together during this crazy week. Partying teenagers,  families with kids, single women in their 60s, punks, tourists,…

The festival is popular with locals and tourists from all over the world alike. There are various tickets available from 7-day passes to single day tickets. The multiple day passes allow you to camp on the island – but you can easily stay at a hotel or airbnb in the city like I did. Now let’s talk about my first visit to the Island of Freedom: Tina, Chantal, Angela and I arrive in Budapest by sleeper train on the morning of 12th August. Angela’s friend with whom we are going to stay welcomes us at Keleti train station. We get our tickets for public transport and head to his huge shared flat in the city center. We are in awe of the beautiful buildings and excited for the days to come.

After a short commute by tram and an ancient DDR-train we reach the entrance to the festival. The colorfully decorated bridge leading to the island perfectly represents everybody’s mood. Once on the island, the first thing we see is a Mojito bar. As it’s a hot and humid summer afternoon, we responsibly take care to stay hydrated and order 4 pints. We spend the early afternoon discovering the different areas of the festival, relax at the beachy chillout area and grab a beer at the sky bar high above the island. Later the first musical highlights await us: The concert of Alt-J on the main stage we watch in the back rows during dinner, while at night we see “The Script” in the front rows (Chantal actually managed to touch the lead singer!). In the early morning hours we finally walk back to our accommodation.

The next morning we sleep in and later do some sightseeing. In the late afternoon we once again make it to the island and visit the circus fair before heading towards the main stage. On the way we come across the A38 tent stage and decide to peek in. A rapper from the Netherlands is playing and the Dutch people in the front row are having the time of their lives. Soon the rest of the audience joins them jumping and screaming along – tho no one really understands a word of the language nor knows the artist. That night’s highlight is Ellie Goulding playing on the main stage.

The following day we head to the island earlier than any other day. However, we still miss the 10am yoga session we were determined to make every single day. We head to the “World Music Stage” during lunch time and listen to artists from all over the world. The afternoon heat makes us move to the beach where we switch between the cool river and the shadows of the hookah bar. In the evening awaits us that year’s highlight: Avicii. During the unforgettable show we even make new friends with a couple of guys from Ireland who let Angela and Tina sit on their shoulders.

Our last full day in Budapest we spend in the city as there are no acts we are interested in seeing. We get tattoos at the local mall and Angela’s friend gives us a private city tour and takes us to the coolest bars I’ve been to to this day. The following day – a Sunday – we head to the train station for our journey back to Switzerland.

As for my second visit to Sziget, I went with Cinzia. We met shortly after my first visit to the festival and have planned to go together ever since. Because we’ve both been to Budapest before, we took everything a bit slower. Again we stayed in the city and spent the mornings at beautiful cafés and strolling around. And in the afternoons the beach was once again the place to be. My favourite acts from 2019’s line up included Tove Lo, Martin Garrix and Gang of Youths. But I also loved the traditional Hungarian choir we saw at the “World Music Stage” and the “eastern European Disco”. We usually ended the nights either at the “Uniqum Bar” or at the “Colosseum”.

I’d go back for a third time in a heartbeat. If you are interested in learning more about the island of freedom, I highly recommend watching the amazing aftermovies on youtube: 2019