This was Sziget festival 2023
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. And this is how the Sziget festival (originally called Diáksziget, “Student Island”) started in 1993. Therefore, this year the festival was celebrating its 30th anniversary in a vital edition to define the future of a festival, which after many years of success had in last year's edition one of its greatest organizational disasters due to cutbacks and excessive dust. Therefore, all eyes were on this Sziget, and the first thing that must be said is that the organization has been able to rectify the mistakes made in the past, and in 2023 the festival is back on track!
The Covid-19 crisis, inflation and a very dry year meant that for the previous edition the organizers skimped on resources and did not take proper care of the island. As a result, the 2022 edition was heavily criticized and had an unacceptable amount of dust. In 2023, both of these things were corrected. And as the organization had been announcing throughout the year, when we arrived on the island we could see that the grass was green, that many infrastructures had been improved and that decoration and art had once again become part of the festival. A plus point for an organization that, during the festival days, turns the island into the tenth largest city in Hungary thanks to the 90,000 visitors that visit the festival per day on average.
One of the biggest improvements in the infrastructure was seen in the toilets. Gone are the mobile blue toilets which have now been replaced by 1000 flushable container blocks, much more comfortable, clean and efficient. And in a festival that lasts 6 days and hosts so many people, this change is much appreciated. By the way, the mobile blue toilets have disappeared from the island, except for a very small number of them in order to “hide/accommodate” the secret party!
Along with an increase in decoration and the return of the facilities to the area known as Art of Freedom, this edition saw more than 100 catering outlets (distributed so that there was always a food point within 150m), an increase in food options, as well as an increase in the number of tables and shaded areas. And it is precisely the food that serves to mention one of the negative points of the festival: the excessive prices of food and drinks. Sziget has become a festival for foreigners rather than for Budapest's own citizens due to its costs. And the prices of food and drink ended up provoking complaints from many foreigners despite the organizers' attempts to set maximum prices for certain products.
But back to the positive. A festival of this size, it is normal for it to have different stages. And the Sziget figures are simply staggering. There are stages for all tastes. From the more than 3000 pallets with which the Coliseum is built for electronic music lovers, through the Freedom tent that can accommodate more than 10,000 people to the main stage that this year saw its size increased to 1000 m2 of surface area and more than 600 m2 dof wall in the background. And these are just 3 examples because there are many more stages at Sziget.
And what about the music? I always say that Sziget has quite an eclectic lineup. It’s never the festival that I would go to just because of the music but it always has a bunch of good acts and enough variety to have fun and bring friends with different music tastes. This year wasn’t any different. I said this exact same thing in 2019 but 4 years after nothing has changed. There is no MC like Macklemore! He definitely seems to have a special bond with Sziget where he has been 4 times (2014, 2017, 2019 and 2023). He always delivers an amazing performance although this time, for any reason, was sadly too short (he started 10 mins late probably due to Lorde’s late start, but also finished 10 mins before the usual curfew at 22:45h).
Florence was Florence. Always a must to see. However, I have the feeling there is some sort of overexposure with her in the festival lineups. In any case, the strength and empathy that she shows with the crowd simply gets you goosebumps. On the other hand, I was actually looking forward to seeing Lorde, who I had never seen live before. Let’s just say that she had a very good last part of the concert, full of rhythm and power, where even Caroline Polachek joined her on stage.
There were many shows that we could be talking about now. Imagine Dragons (great as usual), David Guetta (super fun playlist with great visuals), Mumford & Sons (guarantee of a good show), Foals (fire!), Billie Eilish (surprisingly good performance, very different to her not that old previous tours), and many others. But to be honest, a festival is to be experienced, not to be told. However, out of the acts that I attended this year at Sziget, I would recommend these three: Giant Rooks (this German band really deserve the main stage for next edition!), Girl In Red (wow!) and Moderat (simply amazing!).
To put an end to this article, I would say that Sziget 2023 has been the edition of reconciliation. A festival that I have enjoyed, that I will keep on recommending to visit at least once in life and that I will definitely come back to next year. See you there?
The next Sziget festival has been announced for August 7-12, 2024. And for a very limited period of 48h (until 8pm on 19.08.2023) you can buy the tickets at a very reduced price (€239 full festival pass, €179 if you are under 21 years-old and €459 if you want to buy the VIP pass. And remember that the festival allows the option to pay in up to 7 installments). Check out all the information and get your Sziget festival pass on the official Sziget festival website.
All photographs by Sziget press including cover photograph of Billie Eilish.
