The first major change for the years to come was in January 2017. Providence became the majority owner. The new CEO of Sziget is the recently appointed Executive Director of Cultural Management, Tamás Kádár, who takes over the responsibilities of the founder Károla Gerendai. Under his leadership, Sziget will go on for another 25 years of successful operation and promises refreshing changes that you may have seen this year. "25th century is a milestone in the existence of the Sziget festival, during which time we have created a completely unique and popular multicultural festival that differs from all others, especially with its amazing atmosphere, cultural diversity, varied program, high level services and visual attractions . Present Sziget is the leader among other festivals, so we have to respond to it so that we do not become one of many, " Tamas commented on the current situation with a view to the future.
This year's Sziget welcomed fewer visitors than in 2016 when it recorded record numbers. Still, this year's two completely sold out days of the festival and the final balance of attendance of more than 450,000 Szigetians is very successful. Tamás Kadár attributes a combination of several factors to the decline compared to the record numbers of 2016. There is a growing number of Sziget-like festivals and, in particular, the new director accepts criticism from regular Szigetians for a bit too electronic choice in the composition of the main musical program, which has had a significant impact on attendance. Regardless of this, it was a beautiful and peaceful seven-day festival.
The Transylvanian girl experienced a shock when you became an eight-million-year-old visitor and received a passport from the founder of Károly Gerendaie's Life Sziget Pass, which guarantees her free life for all subsequent years.
The year 2017 welcomed the Szigetian from more than 100 countries around the world, most of whom arrived from the Netherlands, England, France, Germany and Italy, but also from more distant corners of the planet, such as Australia or Hong Kong. The holywood stars also visited the Sziget, Pink concert was not missed by Asthon Kutcher and Milo Kunis, who returned to the performance of Wiz Khalify rape or The Chainsmokers electronic duo. In addition to concert shows, they also went to the backstage to meet the artists. Other stars of the film world at Sziget were Justin Theroux and Luke Evans. Many performers came from overseas especially at Sziget, such as Iggy Azalea, The Chainsmokers or Macklemore, who was unfortunately hospitalized.
One of the sensations was the Art of Freedom project, where the mobile toilets led directly to the secret party.
Security components have been a major success this year. The introduction of the check - in system last year is considered a great way to solve security problems and many organizers from other festivals that visited Sziget this year were interested in this security system. The head of the security services has reported positive results, in terms of statistics this year's year was 30-40% better than the previous one.
The Sziget Festival 2018 looks forward to you again for 8-15 August.
Source: tz
