Sziget 2026

[thetime]

30 minutes ago, activean said:

I can only agree with you guys, other festivals started with some nice first announcements and here we are waiting for dates. 

 

Sziget is losing potential visitors at this point. 

 

I can understand if it was a mad cool, who get the big hitters in. Sziget though, who's profit is non existent. 

 

 

[ReljaGajić]

Tyler, the Creator announced fot All Points East. I'd love to see him at Szigez too 🤞🏼

[Benji1]

Tyler the creator has played Sziget before,  so not a bad shout

[So Sad Simon]

10 hours ago, ReljaGajić said:

Tyler, the Creator announced fot All Points East. I'd love to see him at Szigez too 🤞🏼

Turnstile too!

[CCester]

All in all it’s starting to get concerning. Festivals at the time of Sziget started to announce their lineup and they still haven’t even announced the dates. I’m myself far from a marketing and sales genius, but even I am able to realise that they are losing potential attendees. If my and the festival’s future is depending on next year’s profitability I’d definitely do it in a different approach. Not to mention their way of communicating like a 70 year of with Alzheimer. Promising the first headliner ‘sooner than you’d think’ then saying nothing for month is just something I can’t get my head around. Not having dates for an August festival that is ‘definitely going to happen’ in October is unheard of.
And then comes this: 

 

[thetime]

16 minutes ago, CCester said:

All in all it’s starting to get concerning. Festivals at the time of Sziget started to announce their lineup and they still haven’t even announced the dates. I’m myself far from a marketing and sales genius, but even I am able to realise that they are losing potential attendees. If my and the festival’s future is depending on next year’s profitability I’d definitely do it in a different approach. Not to mention their way of communicating like a 70 year of with Alzheimer. Promising the first headliner ‘sooner than you’d think’ then saying nothing for month is just something I can’t get my head around. Not having dates for an August festival that is ‘definitely going to happen’ in October is unheard of.
And then comes this: 

 

 

Thinking out loud, perhaps they will move the festival to the start of the summer. Picking off acts from Werchter, Roskilde, Opener. Being the only major festival in Hungary now, with no Balaton and Volt. 

 

They wouldnt beed to worry about moving dates. Then again if they did move to June/July, more important to put dates out. 

 

Im one that doesn't worry about lineup, usually get flights as soon as I can. Even booked hotels for next year, free cancellation though. 

Edited October 10, 2025 by thetime

[CCester]

3 minutes ago, thetime said:

Thinking out loud, perhaps they will move the festival to the start of the summer.

Watch them announce the usual dates in mid-November.

20 minutes ago, thetime said:

Im one that doesn't worry about lineup,

Neither am I, also I’d buy tickets even if they’d held it in December.

It’s just the uncertainty, and given I don’t have to worry about accommodation and flights, I’m sure people who have to are starting to think about other festivals. Even I mentioned to wife that we should look for a backup festival with no GF and with Sziget’s whatever the hell they are doing.

[UnBiloTitled]

I'm just thinking out loud, but could it be that they are cautious about releasing dates when they are not entirely sure which headliners they can book? I'm just thinking about 2023 when they changed dates because of Billie Eilish.
We all know that Sziget aint like all the other big festivals in Europe. No other festival would change dates like they did back in 2023. 

[FestivalJamie]

3 minutes ago, UnBiloTitled said:

I'm just thinking out loud, but could it be that they are cautious about releasing dates when they are not entirely sure which headliners they can book? I'm just thinking about 2023 when they changed dates because of Billie Eilish.
We all know that Sziget aint like all the other big festivals in Europe. No other festival would change dates like they did back in 2023. 

Surely that is somewhat concerning though as it would indicate they haven't booked the headliners for next season yet. Most festivals will have finished negotiations and have their full line up booked by now.

Edited October 10, 2025 by FestivalJamie

[thetime]

1 hour ago, FestivalJamie said:

Most festivals will have finished negotiations and have their full line up booked by now.

 

Certainly headliners. 

[Kamco]

Sziget dates will be around weekend 15-16.8.2026, however question is if it's gonna be 5 days or 6 and starting wednesday or thursday 🙂

[mathuska]

7 hours ago, Kamco said:

Sziget dates will be around weekend 15-16.8.2026, however question is if it's gonna be 5 days or 6 and starting wednesday or thursday 🙂

How do you know about it?

[Kamco]

4 hours ago, mathuska said:

How do you know about it?

There's always during the same weekend Grape festival (https://grapefestival.sk/). They do group bookings and share artists with Sziget for many years already. They already announced dates and moved by 1 week as festivals usally do every few years. However this year they came to conflict with Lovestream festival (https://lovestream.sk/) which usually takes place one week after Grape/Sziget but they didn't move next year so they are both overlapping in 2026. Therefore it has been a lot of beef between them and Grape in one statement leaked Sziget dates 😂 (it's in slovak so use translation: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1CLxgubt24/) 

 

Cheers! 🙂

[billybigballs]

From Grape:

 

We would like to explain why the date shift is occurring. It is a completely normal thing for all European festivals to be periodically moved. If this were not the case, Grape would now be held in July.

Those who know our history know that we started on 13-14.8.2010, the next year was held on 12-13.8.2011. Subsequently, we always decreased by one day, until in 2014 we moved again to the date of 15-16.8., so that we still remained on the second weekend of August (Friday and Saturday are counted).

Subsequently, in 2015 we took place exactly identically as we will take place in 2026. So this is not an unexpected move, but a normal thing. The Sziget festival is also moving along with us, with which we have been on the same date since the beginning.

Our three competing Nordic festivals are also moving by a year. So this is completely normal and all long-established festivals know about it and follow it. But it still doesn't change the fact that we informed the Lovestream festival about it almost a year in advance.

We are very sorry for the situation that has arisen, which unfortunately we are not responsible for. We believe that Lovestream will reconsider its decision.

Thank you for your understanding and trust

[Ferda]

10 hours ago, billybigballs said:

From Grape:

 

We would like to explain why the date shift is occurring. It is a completely normal thing for all European festivals to be periodically moved. If this were not the case, Grape would now be held in July.

Those who know our history know that we started on 13-14.8.2010, the next year was held on 12-13.8.2011. Subsequently, we always decreased by one day, until in 2014 we moved again to the date of 15-16.8., so that we still remained on the second weekend of August (Friday and Saturday are counted).

Subsequently, in 2015 we took place exactly identically as we will take place in 2026. So this is not an unexpected move, but a normal thing. The Sziget festival is also moving along with us, with which we have been on the same date since the beginning.

Our three competing Nordic festivals are also moving by a year. So this is completely normal and all long-established festivals know about it and follow it. But it still doesn't change the fact that we informed the Lovestream festival about it almost a year in advance.

We are very sorry for the situation that has arisen, which unfortunately we are not responsible for. We believe that Lovestream will reconsider its decision.

Thank you for your understanding and trust

 

I am sorry to disappoint you, but this statement from Grape is a generic one, not specific to 2026 Sziget dates. Their post just explains why their dates are moving between years following the calendar. It doesn't say anything regarding Sziget dates for next year...

 

It's perfectly possible, that Sziget 2026 will be at the mentioned dates (and I would personally say it's the most likely scenario), but Grape post doesn't confirm the dates unfortunately.

[Yelo, the Parmiggiana]

On 10/10/2025 at 16:02, thetime said:

 

Thinking out loud, perhaps they will move the festival to the start of the summer. Picking off acts from Werchter, Roskilde, Opener. Being the only major festival in Hungary now, with no Balaton and Volt. 

 

They wouldnt beed to worry about moving dates. Then again if they did move to June/July, more important to put dates out. 

 

Im one that doesn't worry about lineup, usually get flights as soon as I can. Even booked hotels for next year, free cancellation though. 

 

TBF, that would be a terrible terrible decision.

Moving the festival to a different month would bring an entirely different segmentation of audience and competitors. I’d argue that June–July is the most cut-throat period to host a major festival, given the competition from Primavera, Werchter, and Mad Cool (and in some years, Glasto), as well as the fact that most people don’t have “natural” holidays in August anymore.

Since Sziget caters largely to young people, it’s worth noting that June–July overlaps with the exam period for most universities as well.

And that’s without even considering how confusing such a change would be for the existing audience base; it would likely push even more people away.

 

No, that would be suicidal. Especially if announced in October, a time when the festival has no leverage to attract users from other major events.

 

Another point that’s rarely mentioned: major festivals usually have their biggest headliners secured by the end of the previous edition. 

I think the delay has two possible roots:

1. Financial: perhaps they’re struggling to secure a project with a viable ROI and are seeking internal funding

2. Institutional: they might be having trouble securing the island for this year; maybe their annual lease expired, and Budapest or Orban’s government are tightening control over a festival that goes against much of what the current administration stands for (which says a lot, given that Sziget already lost its NGO-driven spirit about a decade ago).

[thetime]

58 minutes ago, Yelo, the Parmiggiana said:

 

TBF, that would be a terrible terrible decision.

Moving the festival to a different month would bring an entirely different segmentation of audience and competitors. I’d argue that June–July is the most cut-throat period to host a major festival, given the competition from Primavera, Werchter, and Mad Cool (and in some years, Glasto), as well as the fact that most people don’t have “natural” holidays in August anymore.

Since Sziget caters largely to young people, it’s worth noting that June–July overlaps with the exam period for most universities as well.

And that’s without even considering how confusing such a change would be for the existing audience base; it would likely push even more people away.

 

No, that would be suicidal. Especially if announced in October, a time when the festival has no leverage to attract users from other major events.

 

Another point that’s rarely mentioned: major festivals usually have their biggest headliners secured by the end of the previous edition. 

I think the delay has two possible roots:

1. Financial: perhaps they’re struggling to secure a project with a viable ROI and are seeking internal funding

2. Institutional: they might be having trouble securing the island for this year; maybe their annual lease expired, and Budapest or Orban’s government are tightening control over a festival that goes against much of what the current administration stands for (which says a lot, given that Sziget already lost its NGO-driven spirit about a decade ago).

 

Great post.

 

Hopefully it will become clearer next couple of weeks. 

 

Maybe they will take a year out. 

[misanthrop]

Sziget's future is uncertain, says Budapest's mayor in his latest post:

 

https://telex.hu/after/2025/10/13/karacsony-bizonytalanna-valt-a-sziget-fesztival-jovoje

[bunnyv]

As some of you guessed 

 

The future of the Sziget Festival has become uncertain, but Sziget is a true value — proof that Budapest is a free, open, and diverse city. Therefore, within its means, Budapest must stand up for the future of the Sziget Festival,” wrote Mayor Gergely Karácsony in a Facebook post.

The mayor explained that he received a letter from the CEO of Sziget Zrt., informing him that the company is compelled to initiate the termination of the agreement between the city and the festival. According to Karácsony, “the decision may be driven by a business move on the part of Sziget Zrt.’s foreign owner.”

“I trust that this termination does not mark the end of an era, but rather the hope of a new beginning. And if the future of Sziget can be secured in a way that preserves the festival’s core values, then Budapest must remain open to this new beginning as well,” the mayor added.

[activean]

Where there's smoke there's fire. So the owner want to force better land conditions?

 

"Sziget Zrt. more than doubled its 2023 loss of 1.8 billion forints in 2024, closing with a loss of 3.9 billion, and although the numbers for the 2025 festival are not yet known, according to our information, the owners again recorded a loss of more than two billion forints."

 

[CCester]

Seems like the owner wants to get rid of Sziget. They already reached out to the founder who sold it a few years ago. He’s willing to take over and is looking for some investors and hoping to get over with it in October.

edit: https://forbes.hu/uzlet/varatlan-bejelentes-vege-a-szigetnek-gerendai-a-forbesnak-nem-igy-kepzeltem-a-kovetkezo-eveim/?fbclid=IwZnRzaANZfItleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHgMWll-s0ommr6YNTU48Z0KpQlRN40G-yrJzfNKF6WTaGc5EHVLJViZSJ6ya_aem_643WZuOEQinHNX4KE15daQ

Edited October 13, 2025 by CCester

[krisz1456]

honestly the loss is because we don’t have money, country is corrupt (my opinion, im not pointing at anyone), inflation is terrible, prices are doubled and we are glad if we can buy tickets, not even talking about buying anything inside. We dont because beverage is that expensive inside 

 

It is clear why the new owner does not want to struggle one more year. I can understand, however, it is a shame that Hungary is heading towards this direction that not a single artist wants or can visit our country, but i can agree

Edited October 13, 2025 by krisz1456

[So Sad Simon]

So, we would hopefully expect a public statement, rather than a press one, today to hopefully clarify further......or not.

[bunnyv]

Gerendai to the rescue 🤞🏻

[northernangel]

59 minutes ago, activean said:

Where there's smoke there's fire. So the owner want to force better land conditions?

 

"Sziget Zrt. more than doubled its 2023 loss of 1.8 billion forints in 2024, closing with a loss of 3.9 billion, and although the numbers for the 2025 festival are not yet known, according to our information, the owners again recorded a loss of more than two billion forints."

 

To be honest it doesn't surprise me going by the lineup this year that losses were made.