“We have managed to put together the strongest musical program this year”, Kádár Tamás, Sziget Festival’s lead organizer said at the beginning of yesterday’s press conference. “It’s enough if you look at the headliners of the Main Stage with present-day stars like Kendrick Lamar, Gorillaz, Lana Del Rey, Mumford and Sons, Dua Lipa, Kygo or Arctic Monkeys“. Kádár took over for Gerendai Károly as the lead organizer last year, after the latter announced his retirement of sorts from the position after 25 years. Kádár also revealed that after cross-checking with the festival’s new investors – the event now has a three-year growth strategy. Its first step is to spend over 1 billion HUF (almost $4 million) more on the headliners of the Main Stage. The total budget of the festival is expected to reach 8.6 billion HUF (over $34 million) in 2018.

He also revealed that the 5-day passes for the festival are already sold out and that the three-day passes, which have proven to be a success last year, are also available in a limited supply, and he expects these to be sold out, too, long before the start of the event.

One of the new features introduced by Sziget 2018 is that the armbands used to enter the festival premises can be used for payments, too. The armbands will be equipped with an RFID chip, and they will contain all information about the bearer – days, campings, etc. – and the payment function, too, both for those with tickets and passes. Thus, the Festipay card is becoming obsolete – and the 500 HUF deposit festivalgoers had to pay for it is abolished, too. Contactless cards will continue to be accepted as payment methods.

Starting this year, Sziget will focus even more on reducing the quantity of waste – they introduce the Re:pohár (re:glass) system that basically means returnable glasses will be handed out to buyers and will continue to selectively collect the waste produced on the premises. Last year, the festival recycled more than 2,000 cubic meters of materials – this year, the organizers expect to repeat this performance.

Musical programs

The lineup of the Dan Panaitescu Main Stage currently consists of the following names: Clean Bandit, Stormzy, Lykke Li, The Kooks, Parov Stelar, Lianne La Havas, Bastille, Kaleo, Liam Gallagher, Milky Chance, MØ, Shawn Mendes, Gogol Bordello, Blossoms, The War On Drugs, and the headliners: Kendrick Lamar, Gorillaz, Lana Del Rey, Mumford and Sons, Dua Lipa, Kygo and Arctic Monkeys. The missing names will be revealed soon.

The lineup of the Mastercard Stage by A38 is almost complete: expect to see WhoMadeWho, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Cigarettes After Sex, Seasick Steve, Lemaitre, Alle Farben, SG Lewis, Shame, Scarlxrd, JP Cooper, Bilderbuch, Asaf Avidan, Joe Goddard, Perturbator, The Living End, Everything Everything, Fink, Sofi Tukker, Aurora, Zhu, Borgore, Slaves, Wolf Alice, King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard, Desiigner, Petit Biscuit, Jan Blomqvist and Band, My Baby, Yellow Days, Goo Goo Dolls, La Femme, Little Dragon, Nick Murphy, Damian Lazarus & The Ancient Moons, Lewis Capaldi, Nothing But Thieves, Børns, Zara Larsson, Fever Ray, Gorgon City live and Delta Heavy on it.

The World Music Stage will be dedicated to Hungarian performers on its first day, followed by the usual cavalcade of tunes, cultures, and musical styles. The lineup will consist of international artists like Les Négresses Vertes (for the first time in Hungary), Transglobal Underground, Natacha Atlas, Värttinä and Paleface, Garmarna, Plaza Francia Orchestra, El Juntacadáveres, LaBrassBanda, Žarko Jovaševic, Jupiter & Okwess, Ifriquiyya Electrique, Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino, Mon Côté Punk, Hora de Joglar, Warsaw Village Band, Hartyga, Kries, Onuka, Baba Zula, Jewish Monkeys, Besh o droM, Pannonia Allstars Ska Orchestra, Chalaban, Söndörg? & Amsterdam Klezmer Band, Zuboly, Kistehén, Ladánybene 27, Meszecsinka and Anima Sound System, celebrating 25 years of activity.

The Bacardi Arena will have performers like Flux Pavilion, What so not, The Him, Sam Feldt, Ummet Ozcan, Jay Hardway, Grum, Above & Beyond, Seven Lions, Gabriel & Dresden, Michael Calfan, KSHMR, Tujamo, Kideko, and Don Diablo, with more names to be revealed soon.

Taking the stage of Colosseum will be performers like The Martinez Brothers,
Tiga, Jesse Calosso, Andhim, Rodrigez Jr. & Liset Alea (Live), Nakadia, Mind Against, Eagles &Butterflies, Luke + Alvarez, Popof, Enrico Sangiuliano, Dense and Pika, Sama’, Hernan Cattaneo, Elke Keijn, Rebekah b2b Paula Temple, Dave Clarke, Raresh, Ben UFO, and Nicolas Lutz.

The Europe Stage will once again reach out beyond the European continent with its musical offering – it will have performers from Israel, Australia, Canada, and the US, too. The list of performers includes (but it’s not limited to) The Poppers, Strapo, Willie Peyote, Sexy Zebras, Shell Beach, Francobollo, Fresku, Run Over Dogs, The Paz Band, Omer Netzer, Klub Des Loosers, Peter Aristone, Chefboss, Tommy CA$H, Astronautalis, Ezhel, Satra B.E.N.Z., Smokey Joe & the Kid, Senbeï live, Moonchild Sanelly, Nortec Collective Bostich + Fussible, Motta, Kettcar, Meute, The Lytics, Témé Tan, Blaudzun, Electric Fields.

The Pet?fi Rádió – Telekom VOLT Fesztivál Színpad will once again be dedicated to Hungarian performers. The stage will be taken by artists like Lóci Játszik, 30Y, Intim Torna Illegál, Cloud9+, Bohemian Betyars, Margaret Island, Hiperkarma, Blahalousiana, Szabó Balázs Bandája, Bagossy Brothers Company, Ivan & the Parazol, Fran Palermo, Esti Kornél, and Pesti M?szak.

The Afro-Latin-Reggae Village will have many interesting and captivating programs, and every evening, its days will be closed by performances of DJs and performers like Mike Love, Samory I & The Black Heart Band, Ubuhle be Afrika, Claudia Masika, Ballet Camara from Senegal, G Ras & The Fyah Rebels, Los Orangutanes, Acido Pantera, Red-Red feat. Sena, Dubapest Hifi, Bottah Rankin Sound System, Bassrunner, Love Alliance, Jahfar & Babystep, Selecta Joe-Z ft. G Ras, RE-G Sound System, Pina DJ Set, DJ Azou, DJ Galamb, DJ Elo, and DJ Paolo de Jesus.

This year’s festival won’t be without a Tribute stage: those in the mood will get to listen to the best of Rage Against The Machine, Limp Bizkit, Gun’s’Roses, ACDC, Metallica, Rammstein, Abba, Blink182, Pearl Jam, Foo Fighters, Linkin Park, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

The Retro Stage will be taken by many international stars of the days long gone, ranging from Brazilian dance goddess Regina to the German techno sensation Brooklyn Bounce, along with many popular bands from the times’ Hungarian dance scene.

And to make the Sziget feeling complete, there will be many other attractions and tents to be visited, ranging from Magic Mirror and #CinemaHungary to GameLandHub, a living statue championship, chess, classical music, circus, and so on – we’ll return to these at a later time. The festival’s theme will be “Love Revolution” – its spirit will be observed in every corner of the island this year.