RSSSziget Festival – Budapest
I have never seen so many foreigners in Budapest. For six days (or seven, or eight, depending on the hangover), a mix of Hungarians and foreigners converge on one of Budapest’s islands in the Danube: Obudai-sziget.
Campers fill the island all week here, the sight of Europe’s largest music and cultural festival (Sziget means “island” in Hungarian, hence the name of the festival).
I can say that this is one of the best experiences I have had in Hungary. The 266 acre island pulsates with dozens of music stages and tents. I heard people compare the festival to Burning Man or the original Woodstock. (How some of them know, I am not sure, as much of the crowd is college-aged.)
The organization is incredibly well-run for an event of its size. I joked with the Sziget organizers that they should be running the country, since they fill a void of vision and leadership offered by Hungary’s Parliament. This year’s festival drew the largest crowd ever, an estimated 400,000 people participated, and no doubt many are already making their plans for next year. The festival’s website is in English here: http://www.sziget.hu/fesztival/?language=en
Train Tip: If arriving by train from abroad, a popular method, you will need to next get on the red metro to Batthyany ter. Here, you need to transfer onto a commuter train, a green train called HEV, five stops along the Danube river to Flitatorigat station. Note that the Eurail Pass does not cover you on the HEV train. Each one way ticket on the HEV train costs 300 Hungarian forints (about 1 Euro/ $1.50)
Benjamin Thomas
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About the Eurail Blog
Benjamin Thomas from the USA has been using Eurail Passes to explore Europe. On this weblog he shares his (train) travel experiences. Intro
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