Sziget 2026

[CCester]

7 minutes ago, CCester said:

Peter Magyar of fb: 

‘’Karoly Gerendai and I agreed that we would meet again next year at the Sziget Festival.

ps: it was indeed possible to find a solution so that the capital would act as a careful steward of public funds and the festival would continue to be one of the most successful Hungarian cultural and musical events.’’

 

So it seems the dogs were right and Tisza will ask for a new vote. I’d be so f**king happy if one day could go by in this f**king country without a politician having the surge to became a last minute savior. 

Can’t edit it anymore, sorry.

Additional info:

how much I hate browsing politicians facebook posts’ comments. between getting cancer and stroke from the comments you can find some actual info: Sziget will get the discount for the next two years, but they will have to start repaying it from 2028, 33% each year until 2030. And all Hungarian youth will get discounted tickets. Just like it was done until now, but apparently you can get votes for getting an already existing deal. 

[kristofm]

Let me remind everyone what Gergo Kovacs said from MKKP: Magyar will read the comments and realize they were acting like idiots and will vote it anyways so they are the saviors of Sziget.

 

And this is exactly what is happening.

 

f**k politics.

Edited October 30, 2025 by kristofm

[bunnyv]

f**king politicians.

[Collin34]

I’m laughing bc this whole thing is such a shitshow but in reality it’s a sad reflection of the political incompetence.

Although i’ve made other plans for next year i’m really hoping it can continue, i’m not jumping into conclusions anymore and will just wait till we get an official statement from Sziget. This is insane.

[kristofm]

In short for our foreign friends:

Right now, the leader of the party who didn't vote for the agreement posted a picture with Gerendai, claiming that they agreed on a new structure, see you at Sziget in 2026.

 

This new structure is just a small change from what was not voted yesterday, they will get discounts until 2028 instead of 2030 or something.

 

What actually happened is that they received so many angry comments from their voters that they had to change and work on saving the festival. 

 

However, Sziget 2026 is only happening if everything is signed and agreed, it's still the beginning of the process, so I'll only celebrate when we can actually buy tickets. There's still a long way to go in this next 2 weeks.

[activean]

What if the plan from the beginning was to create drama, gain attention, and then be the savior of the festival at the very last second?

[Collin34]

Also, still thinking about leaks returning with his message. If everything was still so unclear why the hell would he risk his job again to come back here and just tell us, did you miss me? 

idk what’s going on anymore lol

[mathuska]

f**k tisza anyway, they did the same dodgy statement about pride

[TheAnonimMan]

We can say that 99% sure that we have Sziget in 2026. I want to sign a petition, to see Twenty One Pilots on the main stage, they are everywhere in Europe all summer.

[CCester]

7 minutes ago, TheAnonimMan said:

We can say that 99% sure that we have Sziget in 2026. I want to sign a petition, to see Twenty One Pilots on the main stage, they are everywhere in Europe all summer.

Here’s your petition: https://szigetfestival.com/en/wishmachine

 

i would say don’t get your hopes up regarding the lineup. For one, Gerendai said he wants to go back to the times where the lineup was secondary and the Sziget feeling was the most important. Obviously if they have a chance to book a mega act for a -1 or something day, they will do that. But they don’t want to get in a situation where the majority of the budget goes for one act on a day and the undercard is sh*t. 
And there’s the time factor. So late in the autumn everything depends on how far they could go in the booking process before the sh*t hit the fan.

 

[sandorbeni]

7 minutes ago, TheAnonimMan said:

We can say that 99% sure that we have Sziget in 2026. I want to sign a petition, to see Twenty One Pilots on the main stage, they are everywhere in Europe all summer.

There are a few bands that seem to be headlining almost every festival next year (e.g.: twenty one pilots, gorillaz, the cure). If they can convince some of those to add an extra date, plus hit up the artists they have a good relationship with and have been there multiple times in recent years then they still have a chance of having a decent lineup. Nothing special or mindblowing though.

[Matt86]

1 minute ago, sandorbeni said:

There are a few bands that seem to be headlining almost every festival next year (e.g.: twenty one pilots, gorillaz, the cure). If they can convince some of those to add an extra date, plus hit up the artists they have a good relationship with and have been there multiple times in recent years then they still have a chance of having a decent lineup. Nothing special or mindblowing though.

 

Im tellin' you : they have Dua Lipa's and Mackelmore's phone number lol, here are your first 2 headliners 😜 

[thetime]

2 minutes ago, sandorbeni said:

There are a few bands that seem to be headlining almost every festival next year (e.g.: twenty one pilots, gorillaz, the cure). If they can convince some of those to add an extra date, plus hit up the artists they have a good relationship with and have been there multiple times in recent years then they still have a chance of having a decent lineup. Nothing special or mindblowing though.

 

Be interesting if they ditch the delta district, put the money elsewhere. 

[sandorbeni]

Just now, Matt86 said:

 

Im tellin' you : they have Dua Lipa's and Mackelmore's phone number lol, here are your first 2 headliners 😜 

Yeah I was thinking along those lines haha. Maybe Florence too, she did it 3 times in the past 10 years and is touring next summer.

[billybigballs]

Ignore

Edited October 30, 2025 by billybigballs

[billybigballs]

10 minutes ago, sandorbeni said:

Yeah I was thinking along those lines haha. Maybe Florence too, she did it 3 times in the past 10 years and is touring next summer.

Hasn't he already referenced The Prodigy too?

[Yelo, the Parmiggiana]

LOL we are already back to lineup speculation? You people are restless, I love that

 

(Dua Lipa - Florence - Macklemore - Gorillaz - Twentyone Pilots makes a lot of sense in the grand scheme of retracing old contacts, as they all played pre-2019)

 

But this won't happen because politics suck ass

 

(but if it would I'd be on the lookout)

[kristofm]

Does this mean he's got the legal opportunities to now sign everything without a vote? Or is that just a promise again? Can they really work on Sziget while there's no formal agreement with signatures?

Gergely Karácsony, mayor of Budapest:
 
I received a letter today from Sziget and Károly Gerendai, summarizing what they are able to commit to regarding the organization of the festival.

Substantively, it does not differ from the proposal I submitted, which the General Assembly discussed yesterday. However, based on the reactions from the party groups today, it is now clear that there is a majority supporting the new regulatory agreement — and that, in essence, substitutes for a formal mandate from the Assembly.

Therefore, I consider the securing of Sziget’s future to be only a legal formality at this point. There is no need for an extraordinary session; we can finalize this matter during the regular November meeting. In the meantime, preparations for next year’s Sziget can begin.

 

[CCester]

16 minutes ago, kristofm said:

Does this mean he's got the legal opportunities to now sign everything without a vote? Or is that just a promise again? Can they really work on Sziget while there's no formal agreement with signatures?

Gergely Karácsony, mayor of Budapest:
 
I received a letter today from Sziget and Károly Gerendai, summarizing what they are able to commit to regarding the organization of the festival.

Substantively, it does not differ from the proposal I submitted, which the General Assembly discussed yesterday. However, based on the reactions from the party groups today, it is now clear that there is a majority supporting the new regulatory agreement — and that, in essence, substitutes for a formal mandate from the Assembly.

Therefore, I consider the securing of Sziget’s future to be only a legal formality at this point. There is no need for an extraordinary session; we can finalize this matter during the regular November meeting. In the meantime, preparations for next year’s Sziget can begin.

 

It really feels like the whole Tisza guarding the public funds stunt was for just to make it possible for him to be the savior.

 

Anyhow, welcome back on board, Karoly! 
fun fact: Before he sold the festival he mentioned in an interview that his dream is a lighthouse at the festival. 

[billybigballs]

23 minutes ago, kristofm said:

Does this mean he's got the legal opportunities to now sign everything without a vote? Or is that just a promise again? Can they really work on Sziget while there's no formal agreement with signatures?

Gergely Karácsony, mayor of Budapest:
 
I received a letter today from Sziget and Károly Gerendai, summarizing what they are able to commit to regarding the organization of the festival.

Substantively, it does not differ from the proposal I submitted, which the General Assembly discussed yesterday. However, based on the reactions from the party groups today, it is now clear that there is a majority supporting the new regulatory agreement — and that, in essence, substitutes for a formal mandate from the Assembly.

Therefore, I consider the securing of Sziget’s future to be only a legal formality at this point. There is no need for an extraordinary session; we can finalize this matter during the regular November meeting. In the meantime, preparations for next year’s Sziget can begin.

 

Does anyone know when the November meeting takes place?

 

At any point during all the discussions has a date been revealed for 2026 - if it were to happen?

[CCester]

54 minutes ago, billybigballs said:

Does anyone know when the November meeting takes place?

 

At any point during all the discussions has a date been revealed for 2026 - if it were to happen?

End of November.

 

no date has been revealed other than what we know from Leak.

Edited October 30, 2025 by CCester

[kristofm]

Tamás Kádár CEO was on ATV.

"There's still many things to sign and finalized, so let's say it this way: for now, today's standpoint is there will be Sziget."

 

When did you first hear about the situation?

"The owner said 2 weeks before this year's festival - what a timing - that there could be problems with next year."

 

Where can you save money so Sziget becomes sustainable?

"What we learned is that if we keep making things smaller, cutting the corners, that won't result in a profit. We've got one shot in a whole year to show off what a brilliant experience we can provide. If we make a cheaper and worse festival that is going to be visible in the sales of the next year. Lowering budgets will not help. We need to grow, and grow the amount of full passes sold."

 

"It's shaping up what kind of a group of partners can take over Sziget. (...) It will be investors who don't judge about numbers in an Excel file but love what they do."

 

First names?

"Started negotiating well before August. We had to pause for a while now. We've had a lot of very promising discussions with artists, so we'll try to pick these up where we left and get those deals done."

 

Was it difficult to negotiate with Tisza?

"We had to explain that what we are asking for is normal to ask in every other parts in the world."

 

So... Sziget Festival 2026?

"See you there."

Edited October 31, 2025 by kristofm

[charlierc]

I mean, crikey, this has been quite the saga. 

[activean]

Great news 🤩

I'm more interested in the general direction the festival will be going in than individual names. Will they continue to push electronic music or will they go back to as it use to be and, for example, we could see the return of the Global Village etc. 

[Kusy]

https://hungarytoday.hu/the-end-of-an-era-no-more-sziget-festival-2026-in-budapest