Business Enquirer Issue 115 | Sziget Festival | July 2023

YOUR GUILT-FREE LONG-WEEKEND THIS SUMMER!

SZIGET FESTIVAL

YOUR GUILT-FREE LONG-WEEKEND THIS SUMMER!

Sziget Festival, Budapest, Thursday 10th AugustTuesday 15th August 2023

Europe’s popular Sziget festival is back for 2023, and it comes with a lot more than a phenomenal line up.

Designed to be one of the world’s most inclusive and sustainably-minded festivals, Sziget allows you to party without the guilt - but it can’t guarantee no hangover, while also emphasising the importance of responsible festival-going.

With a line-up of world class acts spanning six jam-packed days, Sziget offers more than just different genres of music. The festival also features theatre and dance performances, circus shows, a travelling funfair, an ArtZone, a GameLand and even sport and yoga!

Importantly, the festival also comes with sustainability credentials to blow other festivals out of the water!

The Line Up

SZIGET FESTIVAL PROJECT DIRECTED BY: CHARLOTTE ROPE ARTICLE WRITTEN BY: LAURA WATLING

With musical heavyweights such as David Bowie, Prince, Justin Beiber, Snoop Dogg, and Arctic Monkeys having graced the Sziget stage in the past couple of decades, Sziget 2023 won’t disappoint.

Headlining the festival this year is Florence + The Machine (Thursday), Imagine Dragons (Friday), David Guetta

In 2023 Central Europe's largest festival will celebrate premium beers

Budapest, 01.06.2023. - This August, the Budapest based Sziget Festival anticipates nearly 400,000 attendees. Dreher Breweries, part of Asahi Europe & International will honour European beer culture through two global and one local brands, each embodying a unique ethos. Peroni Nastro Azzurro, originating from Italy, will infuse the festival with a sense of la dolce vita, orchestrating engaging activities across various venues. The Czech brand, Pilsner Urquell, will represent the rich beer tradition, while Hungarian Dreher underscores the importance of responsible drinking.

Since the Festival’s inception, Dreher and Sziget have shared a symbiotic relationship, with the brand reigning as the festival's official beer for decades. This year, Dreher is set to curate a majestic beer pavilion adjacent to the main stage, which will feature performances by global music sensations including Lorde, Imagine Dragons, and Billie Eilish. Initiatives like hop stick

swings and reflex test games will be on hand to promote responsible alcohol consumption.

Last year, Pilsner Urquell unveiled a dedicated zone where guests could enjoy their expertly brewed beer while engaging with the brand's history and the art of beer-making through an immersive exhibit, complete with a beer cellar replica. This popular attraction is slated to return, inviting even larger crowds.

In prior years, Peroni Nastro Azzurro showcased the Italian lifestyle exclusively in the VIP sector, within its own lounge area. However, this year, all festival-goers will have the opportunity to experience the brand at multiple points of sale throughout the venue.

Echoing the message of moderation, Dreher will champion responsible alcohol consumption, offering an extensive selection of non-alcoholic alternatives to traditional beers at all points of sale, ensuring a festive and safe experience for all.

PREMIUM BEERS CAPTIVATE CENTRAL EUROPE'S LARGEST FESTIVAL

Dreher, Sziget Festival’s long-standing partner warmly welcomes its 400,000 visitors this August again. Asahi's distinguished brands, Peroni Nastro Azzurro and Pilsner Urquell, will complement Hungary's iconic beer at this paramount cultural event.

www.dreherzrt.hu

(Saturday), Mumford & Sons (Sunday), Lorde and Macklemore (Monday), and Billie Eilish (Tuesday).

Sziget Festival, which is located on Budapest’s Óbuda-Island, is the perfect festival for eclectic music lovers, allowing you to visit with a group that has a diverse taste.

With acts spanning genres and continents, from YUNGBLUD to Diplo, Sven Väth to Shlømo, the festival’s roster of acts is a busy one, with 80 performers gracing the main stages over the six days.

Sziget is expecting up to 80,000 festivalgoers per day, so visitors may need a breather from the hustle and bustle of the Mainstage dedicated to Dan, FreeDome presented by Mastercard, and the Samsung Party Arena.

Ticket holders can get some downtime over at the ArtZone, the daytime venue offering a range of creative and interactive

programmes, enabling active relaxation. Visitors will be able to meet some of the most interesting people in the Hungarian art scene, as well as explore installations from students, designers, and galleries from across Hungary.

For a more light-touch musical experience, festival-goers can visit the Light Stage. Designed as a chill-out zone, the Light Stage will offer lived music from emerging musicians. Preparing you for the main stages, this area comes with its own bar and smoothie corner.

And for those seeking a bit of culture over the six days, Cirque du Sziget will showcase unique performances from jugglers, equilibrists, acrobats and more, from countries such as Canada, Morocco, Australia and Argentina.

If watching all of the breathtaking performances makes visitors want to give it a go themselves, head over to the Global Village, which will offer workshops in world

music. From Eastern Europe to South America and Asia to Africa, there really is an experience for everyone!

On The Island

Whilst it sounds like it could be an exhausting six days, Sziget Festival has paid careful attention to its accommodation offering.

Basic camping comes as standard, but ticket holders have the opportunity to upgrade their stay to one of several onesite camping options.

Siesta Camping offers shady camping spots, whilst Park Camping is close to the entrance for those not wanting to carry their luggage too far!

For those planning to stay somewhere Instagrammable, Sziget Ville and Podpadopolis offer a range of glamping options. Sziget Festival spans the 108-hectare Óbudai-sziget, which translates to Old Buda Island. The largest Danubian island in Budapest, the tree-filled location even has its own beach!

Off The Island

It’s unlikely that Sziget ticket holders are going to find themselves bored over the six day experience. However, for those taking the time to travel across the world to Hungary, it would be remiss to not take a trip to wider Budapest.

With the Sziget CityPass by Budapest Card, visitors can easily and cost-effectively explore the most beautiful parts of Budapest. It includes a one-time free entry to baths and beaches, free public transportation, Sziget boat service, and numerous additional discounts in collaboration with more than 60 partners of Sziget.

For the sixth time, Sziget festival is enabling visitors to take the festival to the river Danube on its Sziget Cruisin Boat Party! The elegant pleasure-boat takes in

Could ALDI Hungary be the MVP this festival season?

As you wake up bleary-eyed from hours of dancing, laughing, and celebrating the night before, there’s one thing on your mind: refueling. Luckily, for those visiting Sziget Festival in Hungary this festival season, ALDI Hungary has got you covered.

The international supermarket chain will be bringing its almost 500 square metre pop-up shop to this year’s Sziget Festival, from the 10th-15th August 2023.

Festival goers will be able to roam the aisles, choosing from a selection of fresh fruit, vegetables, chilled dairy products, cold cut meats, and BBQ products, energising you for the day ahead.

Does the thought of cooking instead of dancing fill you with dread? Not a problem, ALDI

Come visit us at Sziget festival again this year

Hungary is on a mission to enhance your festival experience. Take your purchased in-store BBQ products to chefs at the ALDI Grill Zone (found next to the festival pop-up shop) and they’ll cook them for you for free!

For those looking for a quick boost, the pop-up will also offer a selection of around 20 freshly baked pastries to choose from in the display bakery.

And, if in the eagerness to pack you forgot to bring some festival essentials, the ALDI Hungary pop-up also features non-food products.

The supermarket’s Sziget Festival pop-up will contain around 300 products, including its wellrespected own-brand range, as well as new products, and will of course offer the same price advantage you receive in store.

ALDI, making the everyday amazing. Making your festival experience even better.

The store offers food, fresh fruit and vegetables and locally baked pastries. Festival-goers can shop at the same price as in any ALDI across Hungary!

all the sights along the Danube, including Parliament, and the world-famous panorama of Budapest. The changing views are made more breathtaking by the accompanying music from the likes of Joris Delacroix, Bart Skils, and James Zabiela.

Whilst visiting Budapest, Sziget Festival also recommends a few other sites to visit during your stay.

As passed on its boat cruise, the Hungarian Parliament building is one of the most iconic buildings in Budapest. Whilst it offers its own breathtaking sight with its neo-gothic architecture, it also gives stunning views of the city.

Visitors can also check out the UNESCO World Heritage Site - Buda Castle, explore Budapest’s Jewish Quarter, featuring a number of synagogues, museums, and restaurants, and even do some relaxing at the thermal baths!

A Guilt-Free Stay

Under the umbrella of its Love Revolution initiative, Sziget Festival is on a mission to ensure its event is one of the most green festivals on the planet.

“The Love Revolution is our way of celebrating that, together, we can achieve sustainable development and environmental awareness in our daily lives,” says the festival’s website.

For 2023, Sziget Festival is implementing several sustainable measures to ensure it can be the greenest festival possible.

Guests can participate in small changes to their day-to-day to improve their individual footprint as part of the bigger picture. This includes using reusable water bottles to fill up at DRINKiQ water taps, only use straws at bars on request, and utilise one of the 30,000 pocket ashtrays which will be handed out on side.

Sziget is working with vendors on larger scale initiatives, including encouraging all food vendors to voluntarily comply with a baseline of sustainability measures, such as providing vegetarian and vegan options, reducing or eliminating red meat, as well as utilising environmentally friendly cleaning products, and monitoring and reducing food waste. In addition, all caterers are required to buy fruit and vegetables that are seasonally available in Hungary from a centralised food retailer that exclusively sells local and domestic in-season produce.

The festival also has several recycling initiatives in place, including Re-Cup, which aims to reduce the amount of plastic cups going to landfill. There’s also the Collective Composting Lab, which was the recipient of the European Innovation Award in 2019. The humus material collected from compostable plates from three of Sziget Festivals diners will be used during the recultivation of Óbuda Island.

To ensure Sziget’s sustainable initiatives are measured, it has partnered with Green Deal Circular Festivals, which will strengthen its data provision systems, as well as work with third party vendors to provide data on energy, waste and raw material usage.

To find out more about Sziget Festival, the Love Revolution, and to purchase tickets, visit: www.szigetfestival.com