The first days of Sziget flew faster than over a cuckoo’s nest. The third day of Sziget brought new people to the Island of Freedom, who were even fresher than the ones who came for Rihanna. There are almost no signs of the rain from the very first day, and instead, dancing people are raising clouds of dust. The main culprit of the day is Manu Chao who was closing the program on the Main Stage.
What to do when you wake up early at Sziget? Well, you can do some yoga (Dance and Theatre tent, Art Zone) or you can practise some chess in the Chess tent, take part in the foam party at Rossmann (read: morning shower without queue) or go a bit more passive way (like me) and enjoy some classical music tunes at the Fidelio classical, opera and jazz stage.
Although, it seemed that the whole orchestra is just having a practice and the festival goers are the tolerated bystanders as the conductor was stopping the ensemble very often to give them some feedback. This was exactly the moment when I wished to speak a bit more Hungarian to understand the instruction. Anyway, cosy and comfortable buns to sit on, violin, bass, flutes and drums make up a very pleasant combination and if you have not checked out the Fidelio Classical music stage, wait no longer and stop by.
My favourite activity is to wander through the Island of Freedom, watch the people buzzing around and observe the installations. There is always something happening around you. Did you manage to catch any of the Street Theatres passing through the Island? Watch out for them; they are amazing! I got abducted by a giant dinosaur making sounds that even Godzilla would envy him.
The Main Stage offered concerts of Bastille and Manu Chao La Ventura as the closing gig. Although the name Bastille is a bit French, these guys are everything but French. They served the Szitizens a huge portion of their indie pop, the British way. It was an enjoyable concert, and the people were singing the tune from their most famous song Pompeii long after the concert finished.
Manu Chao is energetic, and he managed to make everybody dance like crazy. Do not get misled, although the name looks Spanish, this time, it is a true French man on the stage. Well, he was missing a beret and had no baguette sticking out of his pocket. Judging from the number of French flags in the audience, there was no doubt about him being pretty popular among French compatriots. I did not manage to stay the whole concert, partly because the music sounded the same for me after the half hour as the tune motifs were quite repetitive and also because Goran Bregovic was playing on the World Music Stage exactly in the same time slot. And as I missed his performance last year, I just simply had to pay him a visit.
Goran Bregovic Wedding and Funeral Band threw in an amazing concert, and I was a bit sad that I did not get to see more of it! And then, the island failed on me. Or rather, I failed on the island. I tried seeing the cabaret show in the Magic Mirror, but the venue was pretty packed, and I could not see anything. I tried also getting into a Circus tent, but it was full, and I was late. So I ended up walking and walking around the island until I realised that I am too tired and called it a day.
Have you already been inside of the Luminarium? No? Then wait no longer because the queue to enter will not get shorter! Another pro tip from me: if you want to have a much nicer picture with the Sziget Festival letter installation, make it from the other side and then just flip it vertically in your phone. You will get a cool picture that nobody has because there is the A38 stage at the background! And you have quite some chances that you will not have other people in the pic because everybody stands the queue from the other side! Share this tip with your friends who are at Sziget or any other music festival right now!
