A bit later than usual, Hungary’s most popular summer festival, Sziget Festival, which just recently received the international Greener Festival Award from the European Festivals Association, announced the first 80 names in its 2020 line-up earlier this week, a list which includes Calvin Harris, Dua Lipa, Kings Of Leon, Major Lazer, The Strokes, Khalid, Stormzy, Foals, Mark Ronson, and Foster The People, among others.
Chief Organizer Tamás Kádár said that “with this rich announcement, we wanted to show how diverse and up-to-date the Sziget musical range is,” adding that “in this year’s lineup, everyone will surely find something to their liking and discover many new favorites.” Here’s the full list of the first names:
This year’s Sziget Festival, also known as the ‘Island of Freedom,’ will take place between August 5th-11th on Hajógyári island in the middle of Budapest. Last August tens of thousands of visitors arrived at Hajógyári Island to listen to headliners such as Ed Sheeran, Foo Fighters, Twenty-One Pilots, Post Malone, Macklemore, Florence + the Machine, and DJ Martin Garrix. Hungary Today also spent time on the Island of Freedom, which was named the “Best Overseas Festival” at this year’s UK Festival Awards. Our journalists checked out the crazy outfits of the Islanders, enjoyed the concerts, and even listened to the lecture of renowned primatologist, environmentalist, and UN Messenger of Peace Jane Goodall in the spirit of Sziget’s main message, ‘Love Revolution.’ We also asked some foreigners at the festival about Hungary and our readers also received a small virtual tour on the Island of Freedom from our vlogger, Balázs:
The festival’s budget exceeded HUF 10 billion (EUR 30.8m), with organizers spending HUF 500 million more on headliners than the previous year. Overall, the festival featured more than 1,000 artists from 62 countries. The event attracted visitors from some 100 countries, with most foreigners arriving from the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, France, Germany, and Italy. Organizers estimated around 530,000 visitors last year.
featured photo: Rockstar photographers/ Sziget Festival