SZIGET FESTIVAL
renewed focus on diverse programming; including performing arts at a new amphitheatre stage, and the creation of an increased number of creative immersive environments.
Having personally gone straight from a magic show in a beautiful wooden temporary structure, supplied by Spiegeltent, to a stage-side zip wire descent before moving on to watch a main stage show – all in less than an hour; the remarkably diverse entertainment offering at Sziget certainly makes for an unpredictable and memorable experience.
Overseeing the operational changes across the impressively dressed site was production manager Tibor Horváth, who first began working on Sziget in 2015. He explains that the focus on a multientertainment offering is a reflection of Sziget’ s original format:“ In many ways it has been a return to the old ways because Sziget always used to offer visitors a huge choice of activities and experiences, from poetry to circus shows,” he says.
This year’ s Sziget ran from 11-15 August with a line-up of big-name talent including Bring Me The Horizon, Florence + The Machine, Twenty One Pilots and Zara Larsson, but alongside the international stars there was a drive to increase the number of emerging acts and Hungarian talent on stage.
The push to support homegrown artists resulted in a day dedicated to Hungarian talent such as Gábor Presser, Zsuzsa Koncz and András Lovasi, with a celebration of the career of local legend János Bródy.
Political freedom
The banning of Kneecap from Hungary last year, which forced the cancellation of their scheduled performance at the Sziget Festival sparked uproar among those concerned that free speech was being silenced by Viktor Orbán ' s rightwing government.
In April, Hungary saw Orbán ' s Fidesz party swept aside after 16 years to a landslide victory by Péter Magyar ' s Tisza party, sparking optimism that the new political landscape would bring positive changes.
On an administrative level, Horváth says not much has changed as the event team deals with the local municipality rather than the central government. However, the result of the political shift is already being felt at Sziget and beyond.“ The previous government had a negative impact on our festival, and Hungary more broadly, when it came to the mood of the people,” he says.“ As a festival we have always stood for inclusivity, and supporting people in need, so this change is important and is going to benefit us in the long run.”
One of the changes that Horváth says the Hungarian live music industry would like to see introduced by the new government is a decrease in VAT on live music event tickets, which currently stands at 27 % for concerts. While VAT on festival tickets is at a reduced rate of 18 %, he says the fact it remains well above nearby markets such as Czech Republic( 12 %) and Poland( 8 %) puts the Hungarian festival sector at a disadvantage.
Independent issues
Gerendai’ s acquisition vehicle FestPro IoF2025 acquired Sziget in November last year but the brand itself remains with Superstruct under a 15-year licensing agreement that sees Gerendai’ s company pay an annual fee for the IP.
“ We are really happy to be independent again, but managing Sziget has always been a team effort and Superstruct is still part of the team on one level because of the ongoing licensing agreement,” says Horváth.“ When it comes to the day-today management, we ' re still in touch with the key people from Superstruct regarding issues such as crisis comms, security and production questions.” As part of the shift in ownership
Sziget now has a group of new
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