festnoise | Music & Festivals

Usually at festivals music is the claim, but if someone has ever told you about Sziget, surely he or she has tried to convince you to go with a bunch of reasons beyond the music. Which by the way, in this the 27th edition has also been incredible.

Once the festival is over after a whole week, the first thing you think about is sleeping. Yes, you already feel nostalgia but you are also so tired that you just want to rest. But upon awakening comes the real hangover. The feeling of emptiness after 7 days of pure celebration is inevitable. That is when, as in a vicious circle, you start counting the days for the next edition to come. Sziget is not just a festival, it is a state of mind.

Music related, although it is a festival with a somewhat eclectic programming, there is all sort of music of the highest quality and 7 days goes a long way. This year's lineup was nuts, and it did not disappointed!

Impossible to look back at the more than 35 shows that I could attend to, but one thing I can say, there is no MC like Macklemore! The artist from Seattle seems to have a special connection with this festival where he has already been 3 times (2014, 2017 and 2019). Macklemore makes you dance, makes you laugh, makes you sing and even when he gets political he takes the audience wherever he wants. And if we talk about connecting with the audience, what to say about Florence Welch, in my opinion sometimes too overactive and ethereal, but the strength and empathy that she shows with the crowd simply gets you goosebumps.

I find Twenty One Pilots, despite a show full of surprises, somewhat arrogant in their manners. And with Foo Fighters it became clear (once again) that rock will never die. Epic last part of the concert with Dave Grohl inviting crowd surfing fan in wheelchair on stage!

Great Franz Ferdinand and tremendous Richard Ashcroft, whose only presence imposes. And then there was Tove Lo too, and Catfish and The Bottlemen, Ed Sheeran, Years & Years (can anyone be cuter than Oli Alexander?), Jain, Mura Masa, Johnny Marr, ... What I said before, impossible to describe everything that happened on the main stage.

And at the A38 tent? Only the first day I freaked out by seeing the audience sing (and sweat) with Kodaline. And with Razorlight, The Blaze, Chvrches, Yungblud, James Blake, Idles, Parcels, Jungle, Maribou State, and a long etcetera. And at the Europe stage? Anyone saw Leoniden? These guys deserve a bigger platform, pure fire on stage! Sziget simply seems to be infinite in its programming.

If you want to see Instagram Stories of some of the best performances of the festival, click here!

But from a festival with a budget of more than € 30 million, perhaps we could expect a little more in terms of sustainability. Despite its Green Sziget campaign, I sincerely believe that it lags behind other festivals. Such a powerful and influential festival should be at the forefront of innovation instead of towing. The work regarding environmental sustainability seems insufficient. Both by the festival and by its Sponsors.

And similarly, a festival that this year has also been filled with brands and sponsored spaces, in my opinion, it should do more to include the city of Budapest and its inhabitants. It is basically a festival made for foreigners of solvent economic capacity. There are not many local assistants buying several days passes, and local cultural programming is virtually non-existent. Perhaps a bigger social balance would be advisable so that the island does not become the playground of the rich kids of Europe. The festival organization has campaigned very much on the importance of the messages of their Love Revolution, stopping the music every day on the main stage at 7pm to listen to guests and illustrious defenders of human, social or environmental rights. That was great, but it is especially in a country with a tough immigration policy and social rights that still have to advance a lot, where a festival like Sziget (and its values) should be a beacon and have more echo in its own society.

Although there is no doubt or possible discussion in the social and playful aspect. There is no festival like Sziget. With a daily capacity of 95,000 people and having announced sold out both the first and the last day, it is estimated that in 2019 a total of 530,000 people have passed through the island (2018 set a record of 565,000 visitors). With most foreigners arriving from the United Kingdom (16k), the Netherlands (14k), France (6k) and Italy (4k), more than 100 nationalities are concentrated in the festival, making the festival a melting pot of cultures, colors, languages and genres. In short, a unique place where moving to at least one week a year.

This latest edition leaves many kilometers walked behind. Many concerts. Many conversations. Many Pálinkas. Many new friends and surely for more than one some fleeting love. Who knows, in any case many memories that will remain forever. Sziget, I already look forward to meeting you again!