Sziget Festival (, ) is one of the largest

music Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...

and

cultural festival A festival is an event celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival constitutes ...

s in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. It is held every August in northern

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

, Hungary, on Óbudai-sziget ("Old Buda Island"), a leafy 108-

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), that is, square metres (), and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. ...

(266-acre) island on the

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

. More than 1,000 performances take place each year. The week-long festival has grown from a relatively low-profile student event in 1993 to become one of the prominent European rock festivals, with about half of all visitors coming from outside Hungary, especially from Western Europe. It also has a dedicated "party train" service (with resident DJs) that transports festival-goers from all over Europe. The second event (1994), labelled ''Eurowoodstock'', was headlined by performers from the original

Woodstock The Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held from August 15 to 18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. Billed as "a ...

festival. By 1997, total attendance exceeded 250,000, and by 2001 reached 360,000. In 2018 that record was broken when 565,000 visitors attended the festival. Since the mid-2000s, Sziget Festival has been increasingly labelled as a European alternative to the

Burning Man Burning Man is a week-long large-scale desert event focused on "community, art, self-expression, and self-reliance" held annually in the Western United States. The event's name comes from its ceremony on the penultimate night of the event: the ...

festival due to its unique features ("an electronically amplified, warped amusement park that has nothing to do with reality"). In 2011, Sziget was ranked one of the 5 best festivals in Europe by ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

''. The festival is a two-time winner at the European Festivals Awards in the category ''Best Major European Festival'', in 2011 and 2014. In 2002, Sziget branched out to

Transylvania Transylvania ( or ; ; or ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjen'') is a List of historical regions of Central Europe, historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and ...

when its organisers co-created a new annual festival there titled Félsziget Fesztivál (

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...

: ''Festivalul Peninsula'') that soon became the largest of its kind in

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. In 2007, the organisers co-created

Balaton Sound Balaton Sound (also known as Heineken Balaton Sound between 2007 and 2012 and as MasterCard Balaton Sound since 2013 for sponsorship reasons) is one of Europe's largest open air electronic music festivals. Held annually since 2007 on the southe ...

, an

electronic music Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...

festival held on the southern bank of

Lake Balaton Lake Balaton () is a freshwater rift lake in the Transdanubian region of Hungary. It is the List of largest lakes of Europe, largest lake in Central Europe, and one of the region's foremost tourist destinations. The Zala River provides the larges ...

that quickly gained popularity.

History

Following the end of the Communist era in 1989, the formerly lively summer festival scene in Budapest faced a crisis due to a sudden loss of governmental funding. A group of artists and rock enthusiasts proposed the Sziget event as a way to bridge this gap. The festival was started in 1993, originally called ''Diáksziget'' (Student Island). This first event was organised by music fans in their spare time and ran well over budget, taking until 1997 to repay the losses. From 1996 to 2001 it was sponsored by

Pepsi Pepsi is a Carbonated water, carbonated soft drink with a cola flavor, manufactured by PepsiCo which serves as its flagship product. In 2023, Pepsi was the second most valuable soft drink brand worldwide behind Coca-Cola; the two share a long ...

and renamed ''Pepsi Sziget.'' It has been called ''Sziget Fesztivál'' ("island festival") since 2002. A comprehensive survey was done and published on the risktaking behaviour and mood of Sziget visitors (2007) by the National Institute for Health Promotion (OEI). The survey revealed amongst others that the last sexual encounter of 9.4% of its participants was unprotected. Sziget Festival is notable in that it contains acts from many different genres. 2006 saw, among others, a blues stage, a jazz tent, a world music stage, alongside the main stage with more typical popular rock acts. The festival is popular with west

ans. Around 50% of visitors come from outside Hungary, with the largest group coming from the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. Many also come from

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

, the UK,

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

and

. Being located on an island, some festival goers have tried to enter by swimming across the Danube or by paddling across in inflatable rafts. The organisers discourage these attempts as it is dangerous due to the tricky nature of the fast-flowing Danube river. In 2024, an American private equity group, KKR has agreed to buy the company behind Sziget Festival (together with other European music festivals).

2008

In 2008, Sziget Festival lasted from 11 to 18 August. The festival, instead of 7+1 days as in 2007, was 5+2 days long, with a "zeroeth day" that featured one major gig (

Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris (musician), Steve Harris. Although fluid in the early years of the band, the line-up for most ...

) and a special "minus first day" called "Day of Hungarian Songs" that headlined a number of popular Hungarian rock bands (including LGT and Beatrice). As well as Iron Maiden,

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, Babyshambles,

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, Speak and many other were also confirmed, the day of their performance is available a
the Sziget website
The length of the festival was reduced so that the residents living in the neighborhoods nearby would have less trouble because of the noise. The organizers plan to take further steps to reduce noise: the metal stage will be open until 11 pm only and noise filtering walls will be built near the noisiest stages.

2009

Sziget 2009 was 10–17 August 2009. The festival had a 5+2 day schedule again. The "zeroeth day" had a Rock Against Racism concert, featuring mostly Hungarian bands. The "minus first day" had one major gig again, this time the 20th anniversary concert of Hungarian rock band Tankcsapda. The Lineup: ''Main Stage''

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, Die Toten Hosen,

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, Haydamaky, Jet,

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''World Music Main Stage'' So Kalmery, Napra, Oi Va Voi,

Calexico Calexico () is a city in southern Imperial County, California. Situated on the Mexican border, it is linked economically with the much larger city of Mexicali, the capital of the Mexican state of Baja California. It is about east of San Dieg ...

, 08001, Orquesta

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, Figli Di Madre Ignota, Zamballarana, Amadou & Mariam Speed Caravan, Woven Hand & Muzsikás, N&SK, Khaled, Vieux Farka Touré,

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, Brotherhood of Brass: Boban Marković Orkestar + Frank London's Klezmer Brass Allstars ''A38-WAN2 Stage:'' Blasted Mechanism, De Staat, La Troba Kung-Fú, Matatu, Miloopa, Muchachito Bombo Infierno, Squarepusher, Tricky, White Lies, Babylon Circus *White Lies' performance of "The Power and the Glory" from Sziget Festival was later used as the music video for the song. ''Rock Stage:'' Backyard Babies, Brujeria,

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, Donots, Expatriate,

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, Turbonegro, Turisas ''Party Arena:'' Armin van Buuren, Birdy Nam Nam, Coldcut,

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, Grooverider, Jose Padilla,

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, 808 State

2011

Mainstage

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, White Lies,

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, The National, Hadouken!,

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, Batucada Sound Machine.

Worldmusic Stage

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, Hurlements d’Leo, Debout Sur Le Zinc, Goran Bregovic Wedding & Funeral Band and Shtetl Super Stars.

Party Arena

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and Zombie Nation.

Europe Stage

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A38/Wan2 Stage

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, Baskerville, DeWolff, Kees van Hondt,

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, Death Crew 77 and

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Metal Mainstage

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and

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2014

Mainstage

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, Tankcsapda,

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Tuesday, August 12:

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Wednesday, August 13:

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Thursday, August 14: Mary PopKids,

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Macklemore & Ryan Lewis Macklemore & Ryan Lewis were an American Hip hop music, hip hop duo from Seattle, Seattle, Washington, formed in 2009 by rapper MacklemoreTrust, Gary (2013)Macklemore & Ryan Lewis' 'Can't Hold Us' Makes Hot 100 History, ''Billboard (magazine), B ...

Friday, August 15:

Die Fantastischen Vier Die Fantastischen Vier (, "The Fantastic Four"), often shortened to Fanta 4, is a German hip hop band from Stuttgart. The members are Michael Schmidt (Smudo), Andreas Rieke, Thomas Dürr, and Michi Beck. They were, together with Advanced Chemi ...

CeeLo Green Thomas DeCarlo Callaway-Burton (born May 30, 1975), known professionally as CeeLo Green (or Cee Lo Green or simply Cee-Lo), is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, record producer, and actor. Born in Atlanta, Georgia, Green came to initial pr ...

Korn Korn (stylized as KoЯn) is an American nu metal band from Bakersfield, California, originally formed in 1993 by James Shaffer, James "Munky" Shaffer, Reginald Arvizu, Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu and David Silveria, who were members of the band ...

Saturday, August 16:

Bombay Bicycle Club Bombay Bicycle Club is an English indie rock band from Crouch End, London, consisting of Jack Steadman, Jamie MacColl, Suren de Saram, and Ed Nash. They are guitar-fronted and have experimented with different genres, including folk, electr ...

, Punnany Massif, Madness,

Sunday, August 17: Triggerfinger,

The Kooks The Kooks () are an English indie rock band formed in 2004 in Brighton. The current lineup consists of Luke Pritchard on vocals and guitar, and Hugh Harris on bass, guitar, and synthesiser. Their music is primarily influenced by the 1960s Br ...

Outkast Outkast (sometimes written as OutKast) was an American hip-hop duo formed in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1992, consisting of Big Boi (Antwan Patton) and André 3000 (André Benjamin, formerly known as Dré). Widely regarded as one of the greatest an ...

Calvin Harris Adam Richard Wiles (born 17 January 1984), known professionally as Calvin Harris (and sometimes under the stage name Love Regenerator), is a Scottish DJ, record producer, singer, and songwriter. His debut studio album, ''I Created Disco'' (2007 ...

A38 Stage

Tuesday, August 12:

Brody Dalle Brody Dalle (born Bree Joanna Alice Robinson; 1 January 1979) is an Australia, Australian singer, songwriter, and musician. She began playing music at the age of 13 and moved to Los Angeles at the age of 18, where she founded the punk rock ban ...

A Day to Remember A Day to Remember is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Ocala, Florida, in 2003 by guitarist Tom Denney and drummer Bobby Scruggs. They are known for their amalgamation of metalcore and pop-punk. The band currently consists of voca ...

, Casper,

Jimmy Eat World Jimmy Eat World is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Mesa, Arizona, in 1993. The band is composed of lead vocalist and lead guitarist Jim Adkins, rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist Tom Linton, bassist Rick Burch, and drummer Zach ...

The Bloody Beetroots The Bloody Beetroots is an Italian electronic music project of musician and producer Bob Rifo (also Sir Bob Cornelius Rifo and SBCR, born Simone Cogo). Established in late 2005, the Bloody Beetroots were initially a DJ duo consisting of Bob Rifo ...

, Deniz Koyu,

Thomas Gold (DJ) Frank Thomas Knebel-Janssen (born August 9, 1981), better known by his stage name Thomas Gold, is a German DJ and producer. His first productions were trance-based, which eventually evolved into progressive house and tech house in recent times. ...

, Sikztah Wednesday, August 13: Girls in Hawaii,

The Big Pink The Big Pink are an English electronic rock band from London, consisting of multi-instrumentalists Robertson "Robbie" Furze, Akiko Matsuura and Charlie Barker. Initially a duo, they signed to independent record label 4AD in 2009 and won the ' ...

Tom Odell Thomas Peter Odell (born 24 November 1990) is an English singer-songwriter. He released his debut extended play, ''Songs from Another Love'', in 2012. He won the 2013 BRIT Awards, BRITs Critics' Choice Award in early 2013. Odell's debut studio ...

Miles Kane Miles Peter Kane (born 17 March 1986) is an English singer and musician, best known as a solo artist and the co-frontman of the Last Shadow Puppets. He was also the former frontman of the Rascals, before the band announced their break-up in Au ...

Clean Bandit Clean Bandit is an English electronic music group formed in Cambridge in 2008. They have achieved four number-one singles and six additional top-ten songs on the UK Official Singles Chart. Since 2016, the group has been a trio comprising foundi ...

, R3hab,

Madeon Hugo Pierre Leclercq (; born 30 May 1994), better known by his stage name Madeon (), is a French musician, DJ, songwriter, singer and music producer from Nantes, based in Los Angeles. He initially came to widespread public attention at age 17 th ...

, Andro Thursday, August 14:

Michael Kiwanuka Michael Samuel Kiwanuka (born 3 May 1988) is a British singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is currently signed to Polydor Records. His debut album '' Home Again'' (2012) went gold in the United Kingdom, while his second album ...

, Fink, Irie Maffia,

Bonobo The bonobo (; ''Pan paniscus''), also historically called the pygmy chimpanzee (less often the dwarf chimpanzee or gracile chimpanzee), is an endangered great ape and one of the two species making up the genus ''Pan (genus), Pan'' (the other bei ...

Stromae Paul Van Haver (; born 12 March 1985), better known by his stage name Stromae (), is a Belgian singer, rapper, songwriter and record producer. He is best known for his music, which is a blend of hip-hop and electronic music styles. Stromae came ...

Kavinsky (Outrun Live) Vincent Belorgey (born 31 July 1975), known professionally as Kavinsky, is a French musician, producer, DJ, and actor. His production style is reminiscent of the electropop film soundtracks of the 1980s. Kavinsky claims that his music is inspire ...

Axwell Axel Christofer Hedfors (; born 18 December 1977), better known by his stage name Axwell, is a Swedish DJ, record producer, remixer and owner of Axtone Records. He is a member of Swedish House Mafia along with Sebastian Ingrosso and Steve Angello ...

, Muzzaik Friday, August 15: Palma Violets,

Band of Skulls Band of Skulls are an English rock band from Southampton, fronted by Russell Marsden (guitar, vocals). Emma Richardson ( bass, vocals; 2002–2021) and Matt Hayward (drums; 2002–2016) were previously members. The group formed after meeting i ...

, Angel Haze,

Kelis Kelis Rogers (; born August 21, 1979) is an American singer-songwriter and chef. She attended Manhattan, New York's Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, where she played saxophone and was selected for the Girls Ch ...

, Sandro Silva,

Laidback Luke Lucas Cornelis van Scheppingen (born 22 October 1976), better known under his stage name Laidback Luke, is a Filipino-born Dutch DJ and record producer. He notably remixed the Robin S. song, "Show Me Love (Robin S. song)#Steve Angello and Laidba ...

, Dave Martin Saturday, August 16: Starlight Girls,

The BossHoss The BossHoss is a German band from Berlin, founded in 2004. They originally started with country and western style cover versions of famous pop, rock and hip hop songs, for example " Hot in Herre" by Nelly, "Toxic" by Britney Spears and " Hey ...

, Jagwar Ma,

Wild Beasts Wild Beasts was an English indie rock band, formed in 2002 in Kendal. They released their first single, "Brave Bulging Buoyant Clairvoyants", on Bad Sneakers Records in November 2006, and subsequently signed to Domino Recording Company, Domino ...

Crystal Fighters Crystal Fighters are an English-Spanish electronic music band, formed in 2007. Their debut album, ''Star of Love'', was released in October 2010 in the UK and was released in the US through Atlantic Records in April 2012. Their second album, '' ...

, Quentin Mosimann,

Fedde le Grand Fedde Le Grand (, ; born 7 September 1977) is a Dutch House music, house DJ, record producer and remixer. In 2006, his single "Put Your Hands Up 4 Detroit" reached the top five on the Dutch Top 40, number one on the UK Singles Chart and staye ...

, Julia Carpenter Sunday, August 17:

INVSN INVSN (pronounced "Invasion") is a Swedish post-punk band from Umeå. Originally formed as The Lost Patrol as a solo project for Dennis Lyxzén, already known for the punk bands Refused and The (International) Noise Conspiracy, the project's ea ...

Mount Kimbie Mount Kimbie is an English electronic music and indie rock group consisting of Dominic Maker, Kai Campos, Andrea Balency-Béarn and Marc Pell. Mount Kimbie was formed in 2008 by Maker and Campos. The duo expanded on the musical template of the U ...

NOFX NOFX () was an American punk rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1983. Bassist/lead vocalist Fat Mike, rhythm guitarist Eric Melvin and drummer Erik Sandin were original founding and longest-serving members of the band, who have appeared on every ...

, Darkside, DJAIKOVSKI ft. TK Wonder & MC Wasp, Ian Autorun,

Borgore Yosef Asaf Borger (; born 20 October 1987), known professionally as Borgore, is an Israeli EDM producer, DJ, singer-songwriter and rapper. He is the founder of the label Buygore Records. Biography Yosef Asaf Borger was born to a Jewish fam ...

Black Sun Empire Black Sun Empire are a Dutch drum and bass group that formed in Utrecht, Netherlands in 1997 by producers Rene Verdult and brothers Micha and Milan Heyboer. The group has received much praise from critics, even being referred to as "the kings of ...

Jade Jade is an umbrella term for two different types of decorative rocks used for jewelry or Ornament (art), ornaments. Jade is often referred to by either of two different silicate mineral names: nephrite (a silicate of calcium and magnesium in t ...

Lawsuit

Dr. Tamas Derce, the mayor of

Újpest Újpest (; , ) is the 4th District in Budapest, Hungary. It is located on the left bank of the Danube River. The name Újpest means "New Pest" because the city was formed on the border of the city of Pest, Hungary in 1838. Újpest was a village ...

, the 4th district of

, has sued Sziget Festival, claiming that the event is so loud the locals cannot sleep at night. The mayor wants to force the organisers by court decision to cease every program between 6 pm and 10 am - which virtually means closing down the festival. The mayor already lost a similar case against Sziget at court in 2002. The organizers of the 2008 festival promised local officials that the main stage will shut down at 11 pm and no music on that stage will be played after that. For this reason the Iron Maiden concert was taken from its original starting time of 9:30 pm to 9:00 pm.

Previous years

Other activities

In addition to music, the festival offers a plethora of other activities including

cinema Cinema may refer to: Film * Film or movie, a series of still images that create the illusion of moving image ** Film industry, the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking ** Filmmaking, the process of making a film * Movie theate ...

dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...

tattoo A tattoo is a form of body modification made by inserting tattoo ink, dyes, or pigments, either indelible or temporary, into the dermis layer of the skin to form a design. Tattoo artists create these designs using several tattooing processes ...

ing,

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...

access,

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

indoor rowing Indoor(s) may refer to: *the interior of a building *Indoor environment, in building science, traditionally includes the study of indoor thermal environment, indoor acoustic environment, indoor light environment, and indoor air quality *Built envi ...

rock climbing Rock climbing is a climbing sports discipline that involves ascending climbing routes, routes consisting of natural rock in an outdoor environment, or on artificial resin climbing walls in a mostly indoor environment. Routes are documented in c ...

bungee jumping Bungee jumping (), also spelled bungy jumping, is an activity that involves a person jumping from a great height while connected to a large elastic cord. The launching pad is usually erected on a tall structure such as a building or crane, a ...

and a life-sized

foosball Table football, known as foosball or table soccer in North America, is a tabletop game loosely based on association football. Its objective is to move the ball into the opponent's goal by manipulating rods which have figures attached resemblin ...

. The island is located in the city of

allowing trips to the city centre during the day.

Notes

References

External links

Official website in 12 languages
English, French, German, Italian, Dutch, Ukrainian, Finnish, Slovakian, Romanian, Spanish, Portuguese and Hungarian
Official website for the Netherlands

Official website for Spain

Official website for the U.K.

Official website for Turkey

Sziget Ticketing

Sziget 2007 Foto Group
*
Sziget News - independent news site and fan community

{{coord, 47, 33, 14, N, 19, 03, 18, E, display=title, region:HU_type:landmark_source:dewiki Music festivals in Hungary Culture in Budapest Rock festivals in Hungary Heavy metal festivals in Hungary 1993 establishments in Hungary Festivals in Hungary Tourist attractions in Budapest Electronic music festivals in Hungary Music festivals established in 1993 Events in Budapest Summer in Hungary

History

2008

2009

2011

Mainstage

Worldmusic Stage

Party Arena

Europe Stage

A38/Wan2 Stage

Metal Mainstage

2014

Mainstage

A38 Stage

Lawsuit

Previous years

Other activities

See also

Notes

References

External links