Sziget 2011

[kaisherz]

Hi there.

This year myself and some of my cronies are looking to go to Sziget.

Just have a few questions really..

Whats the atmosphere like? What are the Hungarians like?! Do most people there speak english as my foreign language skills are pathetic!! Whats the festival like as a whole?

Also, wheres a good idea for places to stay in budapest? Can anyone reccomend apartments and hotels? Which places in budapest are best to stay away from too!

Also, whats the exact dates for 2011? And will I struggle to get tickets?

Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks

[Madalien]

Hey there

There are threads relating to Sziget over the past couple of years that you will get a bit of info from, scroll down a bit and you will this years thread.

I have been going to Sziget since 2006 and I think it has a great atmosphere, one of the friendliest festivals i've ever been too.

The Hungarians i've come across have been generally polite and helpful, the younger Hungarians at the festival are friendlier. Sziget is full of people from all over Europe so it will not just be Hungarians you come across!

English is widely spoken and seems to be the language most people at the festival use.

Overall the festival is pretty varied musically and a beautiful setting, a lot of effort is put in to the creation of the Festival site and it is like a mini City. The great thing about the festival is that it doeasn't feel cramped and there is plenty of space, not loads of queues!

I've always camped on the island when the festival is on but have stayed in Budapest afterwards, an apartment is probably the best bet but would depend on how many of you were going.

I think the dates for 2011 are 08.08.2011 to 14.08.2011.

You will not struggle to get tickets, there are normally plenty to go around.

If you get them before May then they are a bit cheaper.

What made you think of going to Sziget?

[kaisherz]

What made you think of going to Sziget?

[guitarbaz]

http://www.sziget.hu/festival_english

for all your sziget needs

[Capzilla]

Whats the atmosphere like? What are the Hungarians like?! Do most people there speak english as my foreign language skills are pathetic!! Whats the festival like as a whole?

[Capzilla]

I'll be there again! :-)

(not sure if ticket sales started across Europe yet but in Holland we're ready to go!)

Edited December 1, 2010 by Capzilla

[pumpkinprincess1]

i am sooo doing this this year. i have opted to hotel it, booked already, just need to keep an eye for flights out, oh and get fest tickets! brianair have decided to ditch flying from glasgow/edinburgh and just go to either ridiculously expensive places like norway or the usual spain options. yawn.

does anyone know when they will announce any bands? i love budapest so am really really excited about this. best get the suncream ready though, with this weather up here any sun might well cause some sunburn!

[Uncle Liam]

Tickets and flights booked for this.

When does the lineup get announced?

[kaisherz]

woooooo! After not much debating we've gone for it! Booked an apartment in the city centre that is fit for 10, but for just 5 lads! And a double bed each!!!!

Just gotta book the flights and buy the festy tickets now!

[stevoooo]

Hi kaisherz,

I went to Sziget for the first time last year and can categorically say its one of the best festival experiences I've been to. I've been to Glastonbury, T-in-the-park, and a few other international and UK festivals, but there is a buzz about Sziget which I think comes from the mix of people. Its truly a pan european festival. There is something for everyone and the food there is amazing too, plus its not overpriced like the festivals back here.

The Hungarians are fantastic people, really friendly and sociable, most do spoke english and you won't have a problem on site as all signage is in English. Its a wonderful site on the island and there is nothing better than getting the boat up the Danube direct to the festival site.

Anywhere in central Budapest is good to stay for the festival, and the site is not far, you can either get the boat or train up to the site. Plus a taxi back into the city is pretty cheap too.

Last year we stayed at the Mercure Budapest Buda, which was pretty good and central, right next to the underground for travelling about. http://www.accorhotels.com/gb/hotel-1688-mercure-budapest-buda/index.shtml

Dates for this year are 8-15 august 2011, and you should have no problem getting tickets, check out http://www.szigetfest.co.uk/

Let me know if you need anymore info, and hope you enjoy it!

stevoooo

Hi there.

This year myself and some of my cronies are looking to go to Sziget.

Just have a few questions really..

Whats the atmosphere like? What are the Hungarians like?! Do most people there speak english as my foreign language skills are pathetic!! Whats the festival like as a whole?

Also, wheres a good idea for places to stay in budapest? Can anyone reccomend apartments and hotels? Which places in budapest are best to stay away from too!

Also, whats the exact dates for 2011? And will I struggle to get tickets?

Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks

[stevoooo]

oh and got some photos up from last year here....

pumpkinprincess1 is it true that ryan have stopped flights to budapest from scotland?? I flew from Prestwick direct last time which was pretty handy.

[calise]

Nice photo's, brings back great memories. Been going for the last 3 years and hope to get again this year. It almost doesnt matter who plays, it has the BEST atmosphere, but shhhhhh dont tell too many people, we have to keep it a secret! We also usually fly from Scotland with those bastards from Ryanair so hopefully someone will fly from somewhere close by.

[guitarbaz]

Nice photo's, brings back great memories. Been going for the last 3 years and hope to get again this year. It almost doesnt matter who plays, it has the BEST atmosphere, but shhhhhh dont tell too many people, we have to keep it a secret! We also usually fly from Scotland with those bastards from Ryanair so hopefully someone will fly from somewhere close by.

[guitarbaz]

Panic over. We shall be there!

[h1210]

Panic over. We shall be there!

[pumpkinprincess1]

oh no. that is not what i want to hear having finally had my holidays confirmed. holy moly.

it must bring in so much money tourism wise that they are either being greedy or silly as inflated costs/less good bands will no doubt have an effect on the fest.

so looking forward to this too. first time goin. so hopefully they can work it out.

[purplefluff]

.

Edited January 15, 2011 by purplefluff

[pumpkinprincess1]

stevoooooooo - yeah ryanair stopped the flights and replaced them with the normal tourist hot spots such as tenerife! yawn.

but jet2 fly from edinburgh so gonna use them instead. hoping they dont decide to cancel the route too, otherwise we're stuffed!

sorry for the delay in replying. i actually only just noticed the question! ooops

[stevoooo]

cheers pumpkin! I've never flown jet2 before but I imagine they are the same as the others... you think you are getting a great price and then they start charging you for taking a bag and credit card fees and before you know it its twice what you thought it was going to be. But at least we don't need to travel down to London or Manchester.

Its that or the party train!

Just hope that they manage to sort out a solution over the rent for the island, latest i read was they are talking about 1 billion, instead of 2.5 billion HUF.

http://www.budapesttimes.hu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=16483&Itemid=220

Still sounds like a huge amount though!

stevoooo

[calise]

Panic over. We shall be there!

Edited January 18, 2011 by calise

[guitarbaz]

cheers pumpkin! I've never flown jet2 before but I imagine they are the same as the others... you think you are getting a great price and then they start charging you for taking a bag and credit card fees and before you know it its twice what you thought it was going to be. But at least we don't need to travel down to London or Manchester.

Its that or the party train!

Just hope that they manage to sort out a solution over the rent for the island, latest i read was they are talking about 1 billion, instead of 2.5 billion HUF.

http://www.budapesttimes.hu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=16483&Itemid=220

Still sounds like a huge amount though!

stevoooo

[guitarbaz]

Glad you've got it all sorted, my husband is having problems with his holidays too, he's hoping to work it out with lieu days so that we can also be there for the 4th year in a row.

We looked at other European festivals too but dont fancy them, they dont sound anywhere near as good.

This new development about the payment of rent could have serious effects on the festival. Something will have to give, whether its less good bands, higher ticket prices or more commercialism like having to pay over the odds for everything once you get inside, like UK festivals. We come to Budapest to get away from all that. Its not like Budapest doesnt get loads of benefit from the amount of tourists Sziget attracts. :angry:

Whatever happens it wont be good and could seriously affect the number of people prepared to travel to the festival and its already too expensive for the majority of Hungarians apparently!

Glad to hear Jet2 fly to Budapest, they're a bit better than Ryanair, at least you get a seat allocation!!!

We should try to organise a meetup if all goes ahead, especially since this might be our last year, if changes are too radical we'll probably just stay at UK festivals in future.

[calise]

Aye we did a bit of an unofficial meet up a couple of years back in the JD bar and it went well, could do same this year might be just the 3 of us this year as the Cactus lady is undecided just yet. Hopefully she'll be swayed into coming again!

[Markj11]

Alright guys

Looking for an international fest to go to, in a bit of a dilemma. Went open'er a couple years ago and loved it, but colplay are headlining this year and not really into them so we thought we would try something different. Seriously considering Werchter, but keeping our options open. Came across this thread and thought would have a look into to it! Just a couple questions really, what are the general prices of food/drink at Sziget? Also is there a theme of music that will be going on? Whats previous lineups been like?

Thanks for any input!

[Capzilla]

Drinks: ~1,80EUR/1,50GBP for a pint of draft beer, soft drinks (500ml bottles) are slightly cheaper. Food goes from ~1,80EUR/1,50GBP for a decent slice of pizza up to a tenner for fancy shashlick grills. Summary: it's all relatively cheap, but you'll spend at least as much as on domestic festivals because of the length of your stay.

Music is very diverse, every genre will be represented. No word on 2011 acts yet (other than Shaking Godspeed), but acts like Coldplay would be amongst the candidates for a festival the size of Sziget. Iif you don't like them, there's half a dozen other stages to enjoy at the same time, so I wouldn't worry about that too much.