Sziget 2014

[thetime]

thetime - i think you can only buy them on the gate? i may be wrong.

Oh right that sounds simple enough cheers.

[Uncle Liam]

I did Beacons straight before Sziget!

[thetime]

I know it's early but want to take the Dslr with me, I didn't do the lockers 2 years ago.

How big are the safe deposit lockers in VIP? Enough for camera and other small items?

[doobie ninja]

I stayed in one of the caravans on the VIP camping. It was a bit pricey, all in, but sleeping in a proper(ish) bed was definitely a bonus, with being there for seven nights! That said, the caravans were far from luxurious! They were just old knackered caravans that I guess nobody wanted any more. Ours had a window held together with gaffer tape and several of the door handles on the cupboards fell off through the week. Ours was pretty level, but some of the others were at interesting angles, which might have made sleeping a bit interesting! Also, our '3 person' caravan meant two people sharing a double bed! On the plus side, it did have electric, which was handy for charging phones, and we had a working fridge! The swimming pool on the VIP campsite was also great as well, with temperatures getting up to the high 20's, low 30's most of the days, jumping in the pool was the perfect hangover cure!

I don't think my body could take two solid weeks of festivals!

Can i ask when you got the VIP / caravan tickets? as all the accomadation offers like seista, pre-settled caravan, VIP and so on seemed to sell out quite quick. Was just wondering how long on average after General ticket release these upgrade options tend to sell out?

Did the festival actually sell out this year? ( i know they put a 1000 tickets on the door)

I know what your saying about 2 weeks of solid festival! i would have to pace my self!!

[DaveyGravy]

Just had a look back at when we booked stuff. Looks like we booked our tickets and VIP camping together, back in October (which means next year's should be on sale next month, already!). We got lucky with the caravan tickets, if I remember rightly, as I happened to be looking at the website around the time they came available, and we booked them on the 10th March. From what I saw, at the festival, there was probably only 20 or 30 caravans on the site, so you have to get in there pretty quick. If you are seriously thinking about getting a caravan, then make sure you book the VIP Camping and not the Siesta, as they are totally seperate areas and the caravans are all in the VIP camping area.

I have a feeling that I read somewhere that the whole festival sold out, but I'm not 100% sure on that.

[ghettochip]

There were around 50 caravans in total, all crammed onto an old disused tennis court near the swimming pool. We had caravan #1 as we were the first to arrive on the Friday night and they clearly weren’t ready for anyone to move in…. we handed our ticket over and they look a bit shocked to see us. We were left waiting for about two hours as they sorted us out. After that and a loooooong day travelling I’ve never slept so well!

All in all, I think they were worth the added cost, although as previously stated by someone else they’re a bit crappy and bits will fall off it like window handles. I didn’t use the VIP pool as it always seemed incredibly rammed but I did enjoy the area around it, perfect for crashing on the grass and sleeping away the malaise from the night before although be aware it is designated an no alcohol zone. The only real problem was that the VIP toilets and showers were actually a pretty long walk from the caravans and the huts and this also meant the free wi-fi didn’t extend to those areas, not that any of us got the bloody thing to work at the reception area either. Did anyone else get it to work?

Great festival in general though, I can see where the favourable comparisons to Glastonbury come from. A few minor quibbles, like the A38 being a pain in the arse to get into for bands I didn’t even think would be that popular. A lot of the food on offer was pretty grim and in some cases it was clearly unsafe, such as several stalls leaving lukewarm rice hanging around for hours, or serving undercooked chicken. We all got the shits - speaking to other people at the site it seemed a pretty common problem, not ideal at a festival. Eating at the McDonalds van was like eating at a Michelin starred restaurant compared to a lot of the other options. Shame.

As we had to go early on the 'moving in' days due the flight timetable from East Midlands, it’s also a very very long….a hell of a long time to be in ‘festival mode’, which is why I’d definitely recommend the upgrade to VIP!

Other pointers for people thinking of going next year:

- the Citypass is fantastic, worth the money alone for the opportunity to basically queue jump the enormous line of people waiting for train tickets on the moving out day. However, the airport shuttle bus wasn’t running on the day we got there (Friday). It starts on Saturday only.

- the ferry into Budapest seemed to only start running at 2pm, which seems a bit pointless. So if you fancy shooting off into the city regularly and aren’t stranded in VIP camping, park yourself on the same side of the island as the bridge and train station for a quicker getaway.

- Don’t bother with the moving in day on Friday. It’s not worth the money - hardly anything is open on site as it’s still under construction. If you have no choice but to arrive that day because of flights (as was the case with us), get yourself a hostel in Budapest for the night instead.

- Don’t ask the staff at Champs Sports Bar in the city to put the football on the screen nearest you when there’s a big Australian rugby game on. They’re only too happy to try and oblige, and when they accidentally turn the rugby off on the big screen by mistake you really won’t be very popular….

[DaveyGravy]

There were around 50 caravans in total, all crammed onto an old disused tennis court near the swimming pool. We had caravan #1 as we were the first to arrive on the Friday night and they clearly weren’t ready for anyone to move in…. we handed our ticket over and they look a bit shocked to see us. We were left waiting for about two hours as they sorted us out. After that and a loooooong day travelling I’ve never slept so well! I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that the caravan's weren't available until the monday? That said, we got there about 5pm on Monday and still had to wait over an hour for them to get ours 'ready', whatever that involved! Also, I was a bit surprised when we checked out on the following Monday morning, that they needed to do a check of the caravan. They didn't do a check with us when we arrived, so they could easily have stiched us up, by saying that we had caused some of the damage that was already there - but they didn't. They just kept us waiting around for over half an hour while they checked it. Good job we didn't have a plane to catch...!

All in all, I think they were worth the added cost, although as previously stated by someone else they’re a bit crappy and bits will fall off it like window handles. I didn’t use the VIP pool as it always seemed incredibly rammed but I did enjoy the area around it, perfect for crashing on the grass and sleeping away the malaise from the night before although be aware it is designated an no alcohol zone. The pool was pretty busy. You certainly couldn't do lengths, but if you just wanted to cool off and wake yourself up a bit, it was perfect. We didn't find the 'no alcohol zone' to be particularly well enforced and had cold beers by the pool, most days! The only real problem was that the VIP toilets and showers were actually a pretty long walk from the caravans and the huts and this also meant the free wi-fi didn’t extend to those areas, not that any of us got the bloody thing to work at the reception area either. Did anyone else get it to work? Totally agree about the toilets & showers being too far away from the caravans and huts. That was a real pain. If I needed a pee in the night, I just went in the little, empty field next to the caravans. As for the wifi, as far as I could tell, you could only pick it up in the tent next to the reception area. Out of the three of us that tried to use it, only one managed to log on successfully and then it was so slow it wasn't really worth the effort.

Great festival in general though, I can see where the favourable comparisons to Glastonbury come from. A few minor quibbles, like the A38 being a pain in the arse to get into for bands I didn’t even think would be that popular. Yep. They didn't open it until just before the first band came on, so if you wanted to see the first band, you had to stand around outside in a big mass of people - not helped by the fact that the stage was running half an hour late, on a few days! A lot of the food on offer was pretty grim and in some cases it was clearly unsafe, such as several stalls leaving lukewarm rice hanging around for hours, or serving undercooked chicken. We all got the shits - speaking to other people at the site it seemed a pretty common problem, not ideal at a festival. Eating at the McDonalds van was like eating at a Michelin starred restaurant compared to a lot of the other options. Shame. Two of the three of us had the shits. The food was really hit and miss. I had a couple of really nice things, but some of it was really poor. I had the biggest burger I've ever seen one day. Sadly it had sat out on the stall for god knows how long and was put in the microwave once I'd placed my order. It wasn't nice. Similarly, I ordered a 'pork skewer' one evening and it was stone cold (it was after this I got the shits!).

As we had to go early on the 'moving in' days due the flight timetable from East Midlands, it’s also a very very long….a hell of a long time to be in ‘festival mode’, which is why I’d definitely recommend the upgrade to VIP!

Other pointers for people thinking of going next year:

- the Citypass is fantastic, worth the money alone for the opportunity to basically queue jump the enormous line of people waiting for train tickets on the moving out day. However, the airport shuttle bus wasn’t running on the day we got there (Friday). It starts on Saturday only. Yep, second this. We used the airport shuttle bus arriving and leaving and didn't have to wait more than about 5 minutes each time, for the bust to turn up. Also used it for the train into town on a couple of days. Absolutely no hassle, waive your armband in the air and security let you straight through.

- the ferry into Budapest seemed to only start running at 2pm, which seems a bit pointless. So if you fancy shooting off into the city regularly and aren’t stranded in VIP camping, park yourself on the same side of the island as the bridge and train station for a quicker getaway. Yeah, we thought the boat starting so late was odd too. If you're not in a rush to get back to the site, it's worth a trip on the way back though. We did this a couple of times. There was a bar on the boat, so we sat with our feet up, sipping a cold beer, as we made our way slowly along the Danube - you don't get to do that at too many festivals!

- Don’t bother with the moving in day on Friday. It’s not worth the money - hardly anything is open on site as it’s still under construction. If you have no choice but to arrive that day because of flights (as was the case with us), get yourself a hostel in Budapest for the night instead.

- Don’t ask the staff at Champs Sports Bar in the city to put the football on the screen nearest you when there’s a big Australian rugby game on. They’re only too happy to try and oblige, and when they accidentally turn the rugby off on the big screen by mistake you really won’t be very popular….

[TheBourdi]

There were around 50 caravans in total, all crammed onto an old disused tennis court near the swimming pool. We had caravan #1 as we were the first to arrive on the Friday night and they clearly weren’t ready for anyone to move in…. we handed our ticket over and they look a bit shocked to see us. We were left waiting for about two hours as they sorted us out. After that and a loooooong day travelling I’ve never slept so well!

All in all, I think they were worth the added cost, although as previously stated by someone else they’re a bit crappy and bits will fall off it like window handles. I didn’t use the VIP pool as it always seemed incredibly rammed but I did enjoy the area around it, perfect for crashing on the grass and sleeping away the malaise from the night before although be aware it is designated an no alcohol zone. The only real problem was that the VIP toilets and showers were actually a pretty long walk from the caravans and the huts and this also meant the free wi-fi didn’t extend to those areas, not that any of us got the bloody thing to work at the reception area either. Did anyone else get it to work?

Great festival in general though, I can see where the favourable comparisons to Glastonbury come from. A few minor quibbles, like the A38 being a pain in the arse to get into for bands I didn’t even think would be that popular. A lot of the food on offer was pretty grim and in some cases it was clearly unsafe, such as several stalls leaving lukewarm rice hanging around for hours, or serving undercooked chicken. We all got the shits - speaking to other people at the site it seemed a pretty common problem, not ideal at a festival. Eating at the McDonalds van was like eating at a Michelin starred restaurant compared to a lot of the other options. Shame.

As we had to go early on the 'moving in' days due the flight timetable from East Midlands, it’s also a very very long….a hell of a long time to be in ‘festival mode’, which is why I’d definitely recommend the upgrade to VIP!

Other pointers for people thinking of going next year:

- the Citypass is fantastic, worth the money alone for the opportunity to basically queue jump the enormous line of people waiting for train tickets on the moving out day. However, the airport shuttle bus wasn’t running on the day we got there (Friday). It starts on Saturday only.

- the ferry into Budapest seemed to only start running at 2pm, which seems a bit pointless. So if you fancy shooting off into the city regularly and aren’t stranded in VIP camping, park yourself on the same side of the island as the bridge and train station for a quicker getaway.

- Don’t bother with the moving in day on Friday. It’s not worth the money - hardly anything is open on site as it’s still under construction. If you have no choice but to arrive that day because of flights (as was the case with us), get yourself a hostel in Budapest for the night instead.

- Don’t ask the staff at Champs Sports Bar in the city to put the football on the screen nearest you when there’s a big Australian rugby game on. They’re only too happy to try and oblige, and when they accidentally turn the rugby off on the big screen by mistake you really won’t be very popular….

Thanks for all these informations !

Can you tell me how much did you pay for : 7 days pass + caravan ? How many people can sleep in a caravan ?

[ghettochip]

Yep - we paid for the standard 7 day pass with camping (I forget how much that was, 170 euros or something?), then it was 130 euros per person for the VIP upgrade, and 170 euros for the caravan between four of us (so 42.50 euros each). You have to have the VIP upgrade to get a caravan.

The caravan slept four of us, basically at either end there was a double bed which was fine since we were two couples. There wasn't a huge amount of room but plenty of storage space meant we could get our bags out the way. There was a toilet but it wasn't hooked up so you couldn't use it. Having electricity from the Monday was great - the fridge worked so we had cold beers on tap.

If you don't mind the extra expense I would recommend it just for the fact you have a proper bed, plus with the reflective blinds on the windows they're not as hot as you think they'd be in the heat.

Edited September 4, 2014 by ghettochip

[TheBourdi]

Ok ! And the caravans are in the VIP camping ? How far is it from the main stage ?

[ghettochip]

Ok ! And the caravans are in the VIP camping ? How far is it from the main stage ?

Yep, they're in VIP camping. Obviously there's no guarantee they won't chop and change the layout next year but from the caravans to the main stage was about a 5 minute walk, if that, using the smaller VIP camping entrance, heading straight across the main walkway and accessing the main stage area via the wine bar area. Dead easy!

Edited September 4, 2014 by ghettochip

[thetime]

Oh...no rush

[mpsamuels]

I know it's early but want to take the Dslr with me, I didn't do the lockers 2 years ago.

How big are the safe deposit lockers in VIP? Enough for camera and other small items?

I used the locker for my DSLR+battery grip, three lenses (70-300mm, 18-50mm and a 50mm prime so all relatively small), a carry bag and a few other bits like passport, mobile phones and flight paperwork. The locker looks small from the outside but there was plenty of space.for all that and more if needed.

I suggest booking the locker in advance though. When I turned up on the Monday afternoon there was already a sign on the doors saying there were no lockers left unless they'd been paid for in advance so although I was sceptical about it at first, I was glad I had paid before arrival.

[mpsamuels]

[doobie ninja]

As we had to go early on the 'moving in' days due the flight timetable from East Midlands, it’s also a very very long….a hell of a long time to be in ‘festival mode’, which is why I’d definitely recommend the upgrade to VIP!

Sorry to be a pain, but what do you mean? the moving in days are Sat & sun, so did you arrive there in the fri? because thats what i would be looking to do.

Caravans do sound apealing. i dont mind camping at all but camping in heat is what i dont want.....hence wanting seista camping as its meant to be very shady. but saying that...ive heard the main camping has a lot of shade?

Really suprised about the food!

[mpsamuels]

Sorry to be a pain, but what do you mean? the moving in days are Sat & sun, so did you arrive there in the fri? because thats what i would be looking to do.

Caravans do sound apealing. i dont mind camping at all but camping in heat is what i dont want.....hence wanting seista camping as its meant to be very shady. but saying that...ive heard the main camping has a lot of shade?

Really suprised about the food!

There's plenty of shade, yes.

It might be a bit harder to find if you turn up later in the week but on Monday afternoon there was still loads of shaded space available around the site. Inside a small 4 person dome tent was a reasonable temperature every morning. The noise outside got me up before the heat did.

[thetime]

I used the locker for my DSLR+battery grip, three lenses (70-300mm, 18-50mm and a 50mm prime so all relatively small), a carry bag and a few other bits like passport, mobile phones and flight paperwork. The locker looks small from the outside but there was plenty of space.for all that and more if needed.

I suggest booking the locker in advance though. When I turned up on the Monday afternoon there was already a sign on the doors saying there were no lockers left unless they'd been paid for in advance so although I was sceptical about it at first, I was glad I had paid before arrival.

Cheers for that, how much were they?

[ghettochip]

Sorry to be a pain, but what do you mean? the moving in days are Sat & sun, so did you arrive there in the fri? because thats what i would be looking to do.

Caravans do sound apealing. i dont mind camping at all but camping in heat is what i dont want.....hence wanting seista camping as its meant to be very shady. but saying that...ive heard the main camping has a lot of shade?

Really suprised about the food!

Yeah, we arrived at the site on Friday - the website said moving in days were Friday/Saturday/Sunday but we only got issued wristbands for the Saturday/Sunday, although we arrived so late it was nearly Saturday anyway. There was a bit of a queue to get in because they only had a couple of windows issuing tickets. It's 12 euros per day, per person.

As MPSamuels says, you won't struggle to find shade - as far as I could tell, pretty much every tent was under a tree, even the late arrivals.

[mpsamuels]

Cheers for that, how much were they?

About 25 euro if I remember rightly. Not cheap but worth the peace of mind to be able to dump my kit in there and know it was safe before venturing to the pits at the front of The Prodigy!!

[doobie ninja]

If you don't mind the extra expense I would recommend it just for the fact you have a proper bed, plus with the reflective blinds on the windows they're not as hot as you think they'd be in the heat.

And they're quieter then tents too.

I've read that there is a mooosive super market that sells everything near the festival site. So couldnt you go there and buy a little gas cooker and food as your caravan would have a fridge? (gotta be better then getting the shits!)

Also..while ive got my thinking hat on....

What actually happens at the festival on the Sat, sun before (moving in days). are there bars open & stuff to do? and as for this day -1 and day zero lark, i undertsand that there are bands on but the festival isnt in full swing is it?

did anyone meet anyone who was off to B.My lake after sziget? im wondering if a lot of poeple dont go to it as sziget is so long, so the B.My lake crowd is a fresh set of faces (so to speak)

Thanks

[DaveyGravy]

There was a big supermarket pretty close to the festival entrance, but we didn't go in, so no idea if you could get a gas cooker there. Not sure whether you're allowed to take them on site either? There was electric in the caravans, so you could maybe hook up a portable electric hotplate. The people in one of the caravans near us had the good sense to bring a kettle and mugs with them, so they could make their own tea/coffee - wish we'd thought of that!

As for the day -1 and 0, as far as I could tell, the only difference was that some of the stages weren't open on those days. Just having a quick look through my programme, the main stage was up and running from the Monday through to the Sunday, the A38 stage was Tuesday through to Sunday and most of the other stages were Tuesday or Wednesday to the Sunday.

[ghettochip]

As for the Saturday and Sunday 'moving in' days, the festival site gradually opens and you'll find plenty of outside bars with DJs until the early hours of the morning. In fact one of the messiest nights we had was on the Saturday night - we spent the day in Budapest and then returned to the site to find it totally transformed from when we'd left it, loads more stuff was open and we stayed out until the wee hours. Plus two of us ended up smashing out phone screens!

Total contrast to the Friday moving in day, which as I've previously said is a bit pointless and not worth the cash or the effort unless you're desperate to get the absolute best camping spots.

[doobie ninja]

Thanks for info guys.

So its safe to say the whole site is up and running 100% from the wed, but theres still plenty on before that.

Whats the "chilling" side of the festival like? In all videos and write ups poeple mention the bands, the all night raves and general party side of the festival. But at say...Glasto....theres plenty of chilled out areas, comedie tents, circus, tea tents, small tents with acoustic acts and so on and so on. Whats that element like at Sziget?

Ive heard Budapest is fantastic, what did people get up to in the city? (my mate said the baths and spa's are good )

cheers

[ilbeyene]

Thanks for info guys.

So its safe to say the whole site is up and running 100% from the wed, but theres still plenty on before that.

Whats the "chilling" side of the festival like? In all videos and write ups poeple mention the bands, the all night raves and general party side of the festival. But at say...Glasto....theres plenty of chilled out areas, comedie tents, circus, tea tents, small tents with acoustic acts and so on and so on. Whats that element like at Sziget?

Ive heard Budapest is fantastic, what did people get up to in the city? (my mate said the baths and spa's are good )

cheers

There's a Chill Out "Stage" and garden (the Cokxpon Chill Out Garden), the Sziget Beach, the Luminarium (a sort of psychedelic maze), some tents with ambient music where you can have a tea and smoke hookah, a thai massage tent, the Art Zone, the Sziget Circus, the Magic Mirror during daytime (movies, comedies, etc..), Campfire stage during nightime, almost every lawn and so many other places where it's very easy to relax.

[Uncle Liam]

The Luminarium is shit