Sziget Festival: Music and Indoctrination for the Young

A recent press announcement from the organizers of this year’s Sziget Festival, the largest popular music festival of the year, has caused some consternation among music lovers. The organizers have announced that alongside the music program on the main stage, visitors will have the chance to hear presentations and see performances from controversial gay rights, radical climate and pro-migration activists under the title “The Revolution of Love”.

The Festival, that in 2022 attracted over 450.000 young people from home and abroad will feature stars such as Billie Eilish, David Guetta or Lorde, similarly to other festivals in Europe, will not escape from being politicized. The music event that is scheduled to start on 10 August has invited personalities from the radical climate and gay rights scene to perform in front of the predominantly young audience.

Among invitees is Joshua Beamish, Canadian dancer and gay rights champion, who once speaking about his sexuality said that “ever since I was very young and sneaking into the locker room to stare at naked men and inviting my male friend to come over and play house with him as my wife.” He is also very public about his antagonistic relationship towards Christianity, calling his own father “very Christian”, who apparently only gave him Bibles as a gift. “I don’t believe in Christianity”, Beamish remarked during an interview. “If there’s any kind of religion that preaches that I’m wrong then it must be wrong”, he added.

Another of the guests to address young visitors will be Hong-Kong born, Tori Tsui, who has been linked to the climate extremist group, Extinction Rebellion, a movement responsible for disrupting the travel for thousands of people by often dangerous stunts, mostly in the United Kingdom. The Bristol-based eco-warrior has been exposed as a jet setting climate activist, who has racked up thousands of miles in planes she wants to ban, including long-haul flights to California, Nepal, South Africa and Argentina. In a past statement she had confessed that ‘Flying has always been my downfall. I am from Hong Kong and my job has relied on overseas work. I offset my flights when I can…’

Congolese-born British poet JJ Bola will also have a chance to address festival-goers at Budapest’s Sziget. Albeit not regarded as being on the political fringes of his genre, the young poet is a well-known pro-migration activist, a topic that is hotly debated in the Hungarian public discourse. His topics include “toxic masculinity”, oppression of migrants, racial tensions in society. One of his frequent topics is the question of patriarchy used in the sense that it is coined in radical feminism: ‘Are men just as much a victim of patriarchal society as women or queer people? Are some men worse off under patriarchy?’, he asks. Bola even claims that methods of male suicide are distinguished from female suicide by their violence, with men being more likely to die by firearm or hanging than women.

Just a quick look at some of the performers among the invitees for the Sziget Festival leaves a strong impression that the program is heavily biased towards a radical left-wing content, while leaving no space for young people with a more conservative, mainstream profile. Children’s parents, who expect a space free of divisive politics, could also be disappointed by the choice of speakers and performers chosen to entertain the young crowds.

Featured Image: Facebook Sziget Fesztivál