The Sziget Festival, organized between August 7 and 12, 2024, will be 30 years old! The organizers announced new names and important innovations at today’s press conference. Also, that security will be better, hygiene will be better – and food will be cheaper.
On April 25, the Sziget Festival held its annual press conference, which immediately began with an exciting announcement, expanding the illustrious list of performers made public so far. On the first day of the 2024 festival, August 7, pop’s crown princess, Australian superstar Kylie Minogue, who began her career in the 1980s – but, like Madonna, can’t get tired of performing.
And what about that? The fact that a new era of multi-platinum Kylie Minogue’s career began in the summer of 2023 Padam Padam thanks to his hit. The Grammy-winning song is Kylie’s latest, Tension can be heard on his album, which, according to critics, is “full of sparkling, irresistible, easy-to-consume songs whose sole purpose is to make the listener fall in love and dance, if not always in that order.”
It was news that Beton.Hofi will also be there on the Main Stage, but Margaret Island is also coming. It is already a known fact that
after many years, there will be a domestic concert again in the featured row of the Main Stage: Azahriah will perform in front of Halsey on Thursday.
(A list of performers you can see it by clicking on the link.)
The Sziget Festival Main Stage in 2023 (Photo: Sziget)
Hygiene and sustainability at the Sziget Festival
Gone are the days when many were held back from the Sziget Festival by the inability to go to the bathroom in hygienic conditions. This was especially highlighted by Tamás Kádár, the main organizer of Sziget, while discussing the festival’s innovations. “Last year, we made great strides in enhancing the guest experience at Sziget, to the great satisfaction of the visitors,” he said. –
In terms of hygiene, our services are also exemplary at the forefront of European festivals,
this was recognized with appreciation not only by the visitors, but also by the professionals of the international festival scene. (…) We have also made a lot of progress in the field of sustainability, in this field we are already working together with an international community, in cooperation with festivals belonging to the forefront of Europe. The diversity of the variety of accommodation and services available at the festival should also be highlighted.”
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This year, there may be more Hungarian guests at the Sziget Festival
In recent years, many people have blamed the fact that Hungarian visitors are almost being pushed out of the Sziget Festival due to the high ticket prices. According to the organizers, the number of passes sold during the advance ticket period increased greatly this year, and most of the Early Bird six-day passes (this year it was HUF 104,900) were bought by Hungarian visitors, unlike in previous years.
The prices of daily tickets have not increased on average this year
(the regular one costs HUF 28,900, and the VIP is available for between HUF 63,900 and HUF 77,500). Moreover, as the main organizer pointed out, with student tickets and the appearance of the U21 pass introduced this year for those under the age of 21, young people – in the first period – could get a pass even cheaper than last year.
Cheaper food
The other sore spot for our compatriots is usually the price of the food on the Island – this was the case last year as well. The budget-friendly meals introduced last year were not a great success either, as in most places this covered roughly one side dish at a much higher than average price.
Tamás Kádár said that they want prices to be cheaper this year than last year, and affordability and content must be both criteria for “budget-friendly” dishes. “The fried potato-sauce combo is not an alternative,” added the main organizer in response to last year’s criticism.
This year, the DRINKiQ campaign promoting conscious and responsible alcohol consumption will continue on the Island, setting up free drinking water points.
The crowd will be large, but so will the safety – say the organizers (Photo: Sziget)
More security
On the island, which attracts 95,000 visitors a day, a lot of emphasis has been placed on safety. In principle, they are trying to increase this further this year.
Support zones are created at the festival,
where calm conditions and professional help await those who may need it due to any mental or psychological problem.
In the field of health care, in addition to treating sprained ankles or other injuries, which account for the majority of accidents, they try to provide a safety net for people with health problems – people with limited mobility, people with diabetes or those who are required to take medication, etc. – provides safe entertainment for you.
Less queuing, better traffic
The reception area after the entrance will be renewed: guests will be welcomed by a new Welcome Zone. The renewed City Center will also be established here, where all services that can help visitors in the whirlwind of the festival will be available.
There will be a health service, an ATM machine, a power bank and FestiPay top-up. The organizers will transform the audience space of the Grand Stage: on the one hand, they will create a “fan pit” separated by a cordon, a kind of fan zone, and a further innovation to
in order to better enjoy the concerts, the mixing tower disappears from the middle of the audience area. The role of this is taken over by a smaller building on the edge of the auditorium.
In previous years, due to the K-bridge, which has been in need of renovation for a long time, the release of visitors slowed down after the concerts of the big world stars. Therefore, this year, the audience will be directed to the exit from the dance floor of the Main Stage via a new route.
It is a technical innovation that there will be digital information boards in several places that inform the public with real-time data about how long it takes to reach the exit or taxis on certain routes. On festival days of great interest, pedestrian traffic will also be opened in the direction of the H-bridge, if required, thus avoiding congestion.
There will also be night bus services from the H-bridge in the direction of the Margit bridge,
but there will be more frequent boat trips and there will also be changes in taxi traffic, for example a new Bolt taxi driver in the direction of the H-bridge.
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Featured Image: Sziget/Kylie Minogue in London in March 2024 – Photo: Karwai Tang/WireImage