Summer in the Sziget – a Generation X,Y, and Z Alternative

Why 'Simply Sziget' became this Generation's Latest Buzzphrase

By Rory Winston & Karo Alanko
All photos are courtesy of Rockstar Photographers

Lit, woke, rad, G.O.A.T… pick your contemporary superlative of choice and insert Sziget Festival, the summer event that's got youth everywhere buzzing. Ever since Woodstock left its indelible signature on Gen X in the summer of 69, there's been a hunger the 'it event' of the year. Glastonbury, Roskilde, Coachella were waves to be caught from the early 80's through the early 2000's. For local diehards there was Reading, Leads, and Lollapalooza; for the nouveau-disco bobos, Tomorrowland, while the eclectic pondered over Pitchfork, and the art crowd meandered through Edinburgh Fringe. What about the late Millennials and Generation Z? What about all those who liked all of the above but have just one event to choose for the summer? If NY-based Y's and Z's are anything to go by, the answer is slowly becoming: SS – Simply Sziget.

"Simply Sziget? No – it's SS cuz Sziget's Safe," explained my 20-year-old cousin, Ashley, over messenger, moments before appending her answer with, "Wait, sorry, Max says it's S as in (Seven) 7 days." Since then, I've been told the SS can mean anything from 'Summer' to 'solid' (as in the lineup) to 'Sheeran' (Ed Sheeran appearing at Sziget this year). But, whatever, the acronym, Sziget seems to hit all the right colors in the 'it' spectrum. With 2019 headliners that include The Foo Fighters, Florence and the Machine, The 1975, Twenty One Pilots, Martin Garrix, Macklemore, 6LACK, and Michael Kiwanuka, the festival seems to be headed in the right direction.

Located in Budapest, Hungary, the Festival is on the affordable side by international standards. While Hungary's policies have raised eyebrows, the country is known to be remarkably safe and, relatively, crime-free – basically the type of romantic destination New Yorkers often travel to while, simultaneously, giving a socially acceptable nod of disapproval.

As the festival promoters – who refer to Sziget as the Island of Freedom while calling attendees 'Szitizens' – are well aware, Sziget Festival is its own little country. Located alongside the banks of the Danube, the festival area is just a short distance from the center of the capital. With beaches, boutiques, tenting areas, shops, restaurants, fast food places, bars, recreational facilities, and on-location medical units, it is a self-contained island that lends itself to carefree fun.

Besides boasting one of the best headliner lists of any music festival today, Sziget also has a bevy of venues for every given genre from indie to alt., world music, singer-songwriter, R&B, folk, classical, rock, electro and every given combination imaginable. With an ever-expansive range, it's hard to imagine a niche group that would leave unsatisfied.

In addition to music, Sziget Festival is an all-encompassing celebration of all art forms. With visiting dance companies, performing art troupes, standup comics, contemporary circuses, multimedia performances, films, lectures, discussion groups, and spectacular extravaganzas, the festival is for the eyes, mind, and soul as much as it is for the ears. The festival prides itself on its love of diversity and celebrates the kind of openness in keeping with today's youth. LGBTQ- friendly and with a distinctly pro-Feminist air, Sziget Festival has a no tolerance policy to all forms of intolerance. With hordes of youths attending from world-over, Sziget 2019 is expected to be the 'it event' of the year.

This year's artists include:

Wednesday August 7
Ed Sheeran
Kodaline
Michael Kiwanuka
Razorlight
Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls
The Blaze
Jain
Of Mice & Men
Fakear
Ocean Alley
Blawan
Fjaak
Luigi Madonna
Regal

Thursday 8 AugustThe 1975
Richard Ashcroft
Franz Ferdinand
Cvhrches
Pale Waves
Tove Styrke
Yungblud
Elderbrook
Sonny Fodera
Welshly Arms
Giovanni Verrina
Margaret Dygas
Raresh
Ryan Elliott
Friday 9 August

Martin Garrix
6Lack
Tove Lo
Yeasayer
Xavier Rudd
Gang Of Youths
Anna Of The North
Hucci
Grace Carter
John Digweed
Mark Reeve
Metdoy Hristov

Saturday 10 August
The National
James Blake
Mura Masa
Son Lux
Macklemore
Richie Hawtin
W&W
Wanda
Roosevelt
Tamino
Craig Bratley
Kink
Marvin & Guy
Red Axes
Younger Than Me
Sunday 11 August

Post Malone
Years And Years
Jungle
Honne
Parcels
Masego
IAMDDB
Protoje & The Indiggnation
Vini Vici
Polo & Pan
Burak Yeter
Anna
Butch
Waff

Monday 12 August
Florence + The Machine
Catfish & The Bottlemen
Tom Odell
Big Thief
Maribou State
David August
Yellow Days
Broken Social Scene
Superorganism
Boy Pablo
Coheed And Cambria
Carnage
Black Asteroid
Marco Bailey
Paul Ritch
The Advent

Tuesday 13 August

Foo Fighters
Twenty One Pilots
Johnny Marr
Idles
Alma
Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes
Jax Jones
Sigala
Khruangbin
Black Mountain
Valeras
Avalon Emerson
B.Traits
Courtesy
Objekt

Sziget Festival