Sziget – The Party Of The Year

You can save 30 Euros of the camping ticket and 20 Euros of the non-camping ticket in case you buy your admission till 15th of May. Camping tickets are also valid for the zero day show of Iron Maiden, but during the five days of Sziget festival there will be a chance to see R.E.M., the Sex Pistols, Jamioquai, Serj Tankian, Kaiser Chiefs or Róisín Murphy among many others.

Babyshambles joined the artists announced so far on the Main Stage. We won’t tell a lie when we say that one of the most inspiring intercontinental pop superstars and his band are arriving at Sziget in 2008.
 
Pete Doherty – who’s even apparent on the columns of our native lifestyle magazines – is one to create paradigms: a wild genius winning poetry awards as a child, co-frontman of The Libertines responsible for the renaissance of the cool garage sound (he shared the microphone with his friend, also singer/guitarist Carl Barat, until they fell out), ex-boyfriend of super model Kate Moss, repeated prison inmate, celebrated bad guy.
 
A kind of Arthur-Rimbaud-turned-punk, with a little touch of Dickens. And, as far as Babyshambles are concerned: if you weren’t convinced by their perplexed but lovable debut Down In Albion, then you could really pin your ears back hearing Doherty and co’s following record last year. 2007’s Shotters Nation is a guitar album successfully evoking the coolest and most noble traditions of British pop music – Kinks, Who, Clash, Smiths, Blur -, with razorsharp hits and vagabond lyrics. You’ll be able to hear the songs of one of last year’s top albums in front of the Sziget Main Stage


Also performing on the Main Stage – in an earlier time scale – of Hungarian descent on her mother’s side, Canadian-American singstress Alanis Morrisette has been one of the most important and successful female performers of the past ten-something years. What more: a role model for the recent breed of popchicks with guitars, vigour, cheeky wit and insight tightly controlling their own image at the same time being charts-compatible. The new album „Flavors Of Entanglement” is coming out this year and is to be followed by a world tour calling at Sziget, too!

And still the Main Stage: they travelled round the world under the tag of drumandbass-rock-electronica trinity from the US to Shanghai now with their dj set, now with the band ramification, we proudly announce Pendulum Live performing on Main Stage of Sziget 2008. • Europe’s most famous skateboard punk band can’t come from anywhere else than Sweden, catapulting fast towards fame after its forming as a local band in 1992. They are Millencolin.
 
After seven excellent studio albums, in April 2008 they released their latest work called Machine 15. • We’re pleased to present yet another pop ambassador from Holland: Ziggi with Caribbean ancestors and with a Rotterdam residence is the hopeful of the present and the near future. Ziggi, at home in the world of reggae, is releasing his next album this fall, with such contributors as Gentleman, Ce’Cile or Anthony B. To promote all this, he embarked on a tour with his team in spring 2008, not forgetting Budapest, and the Main Stage of the Sziget Festival.

On the World Music Stage beside of the performers already announced – Seun Kuti, Goran Bregovic, Transglobal Underground & Natacha Atlas – we welcome Ky-Mani Marley. The child of the reggae icon Bob Marley and table-tennis star Anita Belnavis was born in 1976 in Jamaica, but moved to Los Angeles at age of 9. To his mothers encouragement he took piano and guitar lessons, and later joined the high school music band, where he played on the trumpet. It is his first time in Hungary with his new album released last year to enchant the devotees of roots reggae and reggae dance hall – as it is typical in the Marley family. 

• Mercedes Peón, one of the bald, bewitched and probably most popular singers of all times comes from the home of bagpipers, the Northern Spanish Galícia. After her experiments in folk-music for one and a half decades, in 2000 she made her first record called Isué. The intonation of the album was so energetic and had so strong features, that it instantly became her trademark.
 
Peón twisted the traditions of bagpipes and percussion around herself in such a way that one else did before: leaving enough space for guitars and electronica too. On her albums – Arjú in 2004 and Sihá in 2007 – created in this original atmosphere, she merged the Galician folk-music with techo and rock in such a magical way, like it was the most natural thing on her land. Loose experience: elementary voice and crystal clear magic.

Party Aréna, with the biggest tent of Sziget festival and the dance central of the event is expecting such names as Justice. The French electro movement is currently the coolest thing in pop: after Daft Punk, the two graphic designer friends, Gaspard Auge and Xavier de Rosnay made their first remix in 2003 for the song Never Be Alone by Simian. 

This success (thanks to the support of the Ed Banger label) has been growing exponentially ever since: first the insane video to We Are Your Friends caused further stir, then they remixed such artists as Britney Spears, Fatboy Slim and Daft Punk. Finally, after a lengthy wait, Justice’s debut album titled † (Cross) was released in 2007, earning every possible award for the two musicians. The in-the-face, pretentious, but highly entertaining Stress or D.A.N.C.E. are highlights of any house party, and the not-to-be-missed dance music attraction of this year’s Sziget!

There are many other fabulous names joining the Aréna’s pogram this year: Carl Cox, who is the music embassador, veteran of Acid house, and the champion of techno; the Dj superstart of he Netherlands, Ferry Corsten, who has a reserved place in the list of top 10 Days of the world, Dj Obsever, who we could met in 1998 when as a newcomer he was third on the AUSTRIAN TECHNO AWARDS; Jack de Marseille, the one considered to be one of the best Djs of present day ,Lucca, the first lady of techno, the one ready to be the best living female Dj; and Pascal Arbez-Nicolas from Dijon introducing his project Vitalic.

Ticket Prices

Untill May 15th                                                                   
Camping Ticket (valid for aug. 11-18-) – 120 Euro
Non-camping ticket (valid for aug 13-18)– 100 Euro
Day tickets (Aug 12) – 32 Euro 32 Euro

From May 15th

Camping Ticket (valid for aug. 11-18-) – 150 Euro
Non-camping ticket (valid for aug 13-18)– 120 Euro
Day tickets (Aug 12) – 32 Euro

Source and further information:

Sziget Cultural Management
1399 Budapest, Pf. 694/245
Tel.: +36 1 372 0671