Looking for an island party this summer? Forget Spain’s Ibiza, Greece’s Kos or even Thailand’s Koh Phangan – welcome to Hungary. This former Soviet pearl is proving that being landlocked is no barrier to partying. Held on Obudai Island on the Danube River that splits the city of Budapest into two, the Sziget Festival is a 168 hour-long buffet of all the beat you can eat.
Now in its fourteenth year, the Sziget Festival the biggest, longest and most diverse music festival in Middle Europe. The festival includes four venues exclusively devoted to mainstream and underground electronic music acts, a jazz stage, a 24-hour blues stage, a heavy metal stage, a hippy (world music) stage, a cabaret lounge and a Roma tent with all the gypsy swing you can handle.
Sziget presents a wide-ranging dance lineup including Guru’s Jazzmataz, Coldcut, Mylo, Carl Craig, Roger Sanchez, Layo & Buchwacka, Anthony Rother, Beatsteaks, Tiefschwarz, Hernan Cattaneo, the Orb, Scissor Sisters and the Prodigy. In addition, Finger Lickin’ Records are celebrating their seventh birthday with a party featuring Soul of Man, A.Skillz, and Slyde. Rumour has it that Ninja Tune co-founder Matt Black from Coldcut will also pay homage to the respected label at the party.
Add to this forty seven pubs, thirty nine hot food buffets, eight ice cream stand, four green-grocers, two freshly squeeze juice outlets, ballet, opera, contemporary art, tea houses, a silent disco where dancers can switch between the sounds of two DJs through wireless headphones, a crèche, a post office, a laundry, a pharmacy, a 60m bungee tower, a flying fox, dodge’ em cars and four corn-on-the-cob joints, and Obudai Island is set for a very merry week.
Sziget Festival takes place on Obudai Island in Budapest, Hungary August 9th – 16th, 2006.
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