Sziget
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| Music of Hungary: Topics | |||||
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| History: (Timeline and Samples) | |||||
| Genres | Classical - Folk - Hardcore - Hip hop - Opera - Operett - Pop - Reggea - Rock - Wedding pop - Wedding rock | ||||
| Organisations | Mahasz | ||||
| Awards | Golden Giraffe | ||||
| Charts | MAHASZ TOP 40 album, MAHASZ Kislemez TOP 10, Dance TOP 40 | ||||
| Festivals | Sziget, Mayday, Táncháztalálkozó, Miskolc Opera Festival | ||||
| Media | Radio Petőfi, Hungaroton, VIVA, Danubius Rádió, Sláger Rádió, Tilos Radio | ||||
| National anthem | "Himnusz" | ||||
| Hungarian minorities' music abroad | |||||
| Transylvania, Vojvodina, Slovakia, Transcarpathia | |||||
The Sziget Festival (pronounced sih'-get [sih' has the quality (not length) of the vowel in the word seat]) is one of Europe's largest music and cultural festivals (400,000 visitors), held annually in August in Budapest, Hungary. The festival takes place on Óbudai-sziget ("Old-Buda Island"), an island in the Danube. Currently it boasts more than 1000 performances each year.
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[edit] History
Following the end of the communist era 1989, there were no longer organised camps for musicians to meet up and play, and hence a music festival was proposed as a way to bridge this gap. The festival was started in 1993, originally called Diáksziget (Students' Island). This first event was organised by enthusiastic 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 and renamed Pepsi Sziget. It has been called Sziget Festival ("island festival") since 2002.
[edit] Sziget Festival Now
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 Europeans. Around 50% of visitors come from outside Hungary, with the largest group coming from Germany. Many also come from the UK and France and The Netherlands. The Hungarian currency gives a fairly good exchange rate which may partially explain this.
Being located on an island, some festival goers have tried to enter by swimming across the Danube or by paddling across in an inflatable raft. The organisers very much discourage these attempts claiming that it has never worked and that, due to the tricky nature of the fast-flowing Danube river, people have lost their lives trying.
[edit] Previous Years
- 1993 (Diáksziget '93)
- 43 000 visitors. (Only Hungarian artists).
- 1994 (Diáksziget '94 (Eurowoodstock))
- 143 000 visitors. Main artists: Jethro Tull, Ten Years After, Grandmothers of Invention (Frank Zappa's band), Jefferson Starship, Birds, Blood Sweat and Tears, Eric Burdon
- 1995 (Diáksziget '95)
- 173 000 visitors. Main artists: Stranglers, Jeff Healey, Clawfinger, John Cale
- 1996 (Pepsi Sziget 1996)
- 206 000 visitors. Main artists: Slash, Iggy Pop, Therapy?, The Prodigy, The Bates, The Stone Roses, The Levellers, Sonic Youth
- 1997 (Pepsi Sziget 1997)
- 260 000 visitors. Main artists: David Bowie, Motörhead, Rollins Band, Faith No More, Chumbawamba, Foo Fighters, New Model Army, the Cardigans, dEUS, Toy Dolls
- 1998 (Pepsi Sziget 1998)
- 268 000 visitors. Main artists: Rammstein, Coolio, Chumbawamba, Boney M, Green Day, Mory Kante, Shane McGowan and the Poges, Goldie, Patti Smith, Paradise Lost, Therapy?
- 1999 (Pepsi Sziget 1999)
- 297 000 visitors. Main artists: Guano Apes, Liquido, Asian Dub Foundation, Paradise Lost, Apocalyptica, Faithless, Suede, Rachid Taha, Baaba Maal, Boney Nyem, Brand New Heavies, Kool and the Gang.
- 2000 (Pepsi Sziget 2000)
- 324 000 visitors. Main artists: Oasis, Guano Apes, Apollo 440, Chumbawamba, Suzanne Vega, HIM, Bad Religion, Baaba Maal, Clawfinger, Lou Reed, Bloodhound Gang, Die Ärzte, Therapy?, K2R Riddim.
- 2001 (Pepsi Sziget 2001)
- 365 000 visitors. Main artists: Ash, Bomfunk MCs, Jimmy Bosch, Eagle Eye Cherry, Faithless, Freestylers, Guano Apes, HIM, Ignite, Khaled, Moonspell, Morcheeba, Nightwish, Noir Desir, Omara Portuondo, Placebo, Varttina.
- 2002 (Sziget 2002)
- 355 000 visitors. Main artists: The Cure, Iggy Pop, Muse, Pulp, Stereo MCs, Transglobal Underground, HIM, The 69 Eyes, Nightwish, The Gathering, Die Toten Hosen, Jovanotti, Amorphis, Tito and Tarantula, Mission, Kosheen, The Klezmatics, Baaba Maal, Mory Kante, Uk Subs, Natacha Atlas.
- 2003 (Sziget 2003)
- 361 000 visitors. Main artists: Fun Lovin' Criminals, Massive Attack, Morcheeba, Shaggy, Seeed, Apocalyptica, DJ Rush, Slayer.
- 2004 (Sziget 2004)
- 369 000 visitors. Main artists: Faithless, Sugababes, The Rasmus, The Pet Shop Boys, Fun Lovin' Criminals, The Bloodhound Gang, Junkie XL, Paul Oakenfold, Basement Jaxx, Children of Bodom, Scissor Sisters, Freestylers, Tito and Tarantula, The Gathering, Amorphis, Addictive TV, In Flames, Ash.
- 2005 (Sziget 2005)
- 385 000 visitors. Main artists: Franz Ferdinand, Good Charlotte, Underworld, Nick Cave, Sean Paul, Buena Vista Social Club, Paul van Dyk, KoЯn, Natalie Imbruglia, Basement Jaxx, Wickeda
- 2006 (Sziget 2006)
- 385,000 visitors. Main artists: Therapy? (UK), Living Colour (USA),Ministry, Franz Ferdinand, Jovanotti, Scissor Sisters, Radiohead, The Rasmus, Robert Plant, Placebo, The Prodigy,
- Other bands of the 2006 festival
- Craig (USA), Addictive TV (UK), Cradle of Filth (UK), Evergrey (S), Fear Factory (USA), maNga (TR), Natacha Atlas, Sick of It All (USA), The Skinny Bohemians (UK/CA/HU), Wir Sind Helden (D), Kispál és a Borz (H), Hadag Nahash (IL), Leningrad (RU), Gogol Bordello (USA), .
[edit] Other activities
In addition to music, the festival offers a plethora of other activities including cinema, dance, theatre, tattooing, Internet access, volleyball, tennis, football, bungee jumping and a life-sized foosball.
The island is conveniently located in the city of Budapest allowing trips to the city centre during the day.
[edit] External links
- Official website in 9 languages: English, French, German, Italian, Dutch, Russian, Finnish, Romanian and Hungarian
