Having been to various festivals over across the British Isles, it got to the point where I was standing at the edge of a mosh pit at Reading Festival and in the split moment before the drop I look around and realise that surrounding me are hordes of sixteen year olds celebrating their GCSEs. Fast forward a year and I had retrieved that feeling of originality, of freshness, just by making the journey across the channel and visiting Belgium’s Rock Werchter festival. A tent warmed Jupiler in hand and in scalding 30 degree heat this felt like the perfect break from the grungy, debauched UK festival scene. By now I was sure that going to European festivals was the best way to combine both a holiday and an assemblage of gigs; and there is surely nowhere better to experience this sense of freedom and adventure than at this year’s Hungary’s Sziget Festival.
Going to a festival abroad is sure to spice up your ever increasing reluctance to revisit the same festivals year upon year, and Sziget holds one of the best line ups across the continent. Littered with an almost embarrassing wealth of artists, the small cost of flights to Eastern Europe is certainly worth it, and would cost no more than you’d be paying to go on a long distance train journey to a UK festival. The festivals personal island plays host to the world’s biggest band Arctic Monkeys, grime superstar Stormzy, world icon Kendrick Lamar, and also shows a strong set of female acts with Lana Del Rey and Dua Lipa high up on the bill. Gorillaz, Liam Gallagher and Mumford and Sons add to the line-up that is brimming with headliner quality acts, making Sziget one of the most appealing festivals over the last few years.
Sziget Festival is going ahead from 8th to 15th August, and tickets are available here.
