Two and a half decades have passed since Hungary, after shaking off the Soviet influence, started its journey toward a more politically and culturally liberated society. Sziget Festival has become one of the symbols for this journey, initially choosing the talent on its stage (and later stages) from the local talent pool, and later expanding to become the major international festival it is today. The history of Sziget Festival is one of the topics of the interview below, where the folks from PollstarPro have spoken to Sziget Cultural Management’s International Relations Director András Berta.

In the interview, Berta speaks not only about the history of the festival but also about the other two major events run by the same team, VOLT, and Balaton Sound, and about the team’s reaction to the passing of legendary booker Dan Panaitescu, who passed away mere weeks before the start of last year’s event.

The interview

In other news, Sziget has promised to reveal the artist to headline the Dan Panaitescu Main Stage on August 9th.