Seven days of music, and an almost endless line up of bands and groups, which attracts during the summer tourists and fans of all leanings and tastes. Which is why Sziget Festival is the biggest thing in Budapest in august.

This year, the party starts on the 11th, and carries on until the 16th of august, in Óbudai, an island in the middle of the Danube, and around 15 minutes from the city centre.

Sziget is world famous, not just for the volume of musicians and styles on offer, but because it has created a whole way of life, and a new way of enjoying music out in the nature, whereby the two merge together in a sustainable way. In Sziget, which means Island in Hungarian, festival goers can camp in specially assigned places, with good transport connections. You just need a good tent, and be ready to have some fun.

Well known newspaper Financial Times has placed Sziget Festival amongst the world�s most successful music events of this year, and one of Europe�s best summer festivals.

For the 2011 edition, there will be usual meeting of well loved and established bands, with new, up and coming acts. Alternative, electronic and rock all fuse together for the festival�s seven days.

Amongst the headlining acts are British band Kasabian. Their name came from guitarist Chris Karloff, who found himself drawn to the Linda Kasabian figure in a novel based on the multiple killings committed by Charles Manson at the home of actress Sharon Tate in 1966. Kasabian was a beautiful young pregnant woman driving the car which took a fleeing Manson from the scene of the crime.

Since the band�s early days, it has been compared with Oasis and Stone Roses, and its image as alternative rock group has been a successful one since 2004, garnering them many fans – which is why they have been chosen as one of the bands to open the festival this year.

Another big British bands confirmed on the bill is British Sea Power. The indie rock band is made up of the Wilkinson brothers, and the music is known for its poppy guitars, making their live performances popular, and also famous for their eccentric, artistic sets. This january they released Valhalla Dancehall, which led to a tour of the States and various other countries.

Production!, the project from Danish DJ, producer, and all round musical talent Trentemoller will also be taking to the stage at the festival. Check out the latest videos and releases from the bands and DJs, and the latest from the world of alternative music. More information:  http://szigetfest.eu/en/szigetinfo

Nancy Guzman

For a holiday with something extra special, where you can forget about the year�s troubles, head down to Sziget Festival, and then spend a few days renting an apartments in Budapest

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Translated by: Poppy
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Budapest is delightful. There�s never a lack of beautiful people everywhere, above all the proportionate and exotic Hungarian women, who will captivate you by just looking at them. Budapest carries on growing and, as such, it�s turning more and more cosmopolitan as we speak. Sziget Festival is an option to listen to some of the best bands on the planet in beautiful Budapest, for five whole days, as well as getting to know people from around the world, who are always searching for adventure, romance and crazy times.

Among the participants in the festival we can find Interpol, the New York band that along the years has known how to capitalize its image, sound and provenance. A band from New York is, at the end of the day, a band from New York and everyone knows that. Despite that, their last album, titled “Interpol”, leaves that band in a very uncomfortable position. To put it simply, if before they were Joy Division, now they�re just U2. Their best song is still “Turn on the bright lights”, a really amazing night-time album which is post-9/11, which managed to portray in their lyrics the isolation, shadow, frivolity and insecurities of the city that never sleeps.

From Australia we receive Empire of the Sun, a band that with their single “Walking on a Dream” from 2008, hasn�t stopped impressing and delighting live. They have a pop-rock sound which borders romantic and new wave, with a paraphernalia of clothing and cosmic attire.Their videos are clear homages to nature and the cosmos, generally in remote locations, which create a world of fantasy and colour that seduces and invites one to dance. It�s worth seeing their videos and, live, as well as video screens and lasers, the use all sorts of choreography to create a very personal universe.

Amongst the other crowd favourites we can find Pulp, Kate Nash, The Prodigy, The Chemical Brothers, Rise Against, British Sea Powder, Triggerfinger and Peter Bjorn and John. The summer festivals in Europe and around the world today, are a huge way of sound trafficking, trying to save the industry which is plummeting. Despite that, you can have a good time if you want to. Checking out this event�s website, you don�t need much to see the way in which the younger bands sell themselves, generally older is better, and it happens in many of the festivals now. Which will be the new sound to appear? Who knows.

It seems like rock sound would have stopped at some point in nostalgia, where few people still listen to it without having much knowledge that things are changing. The media, internet, Twitter and Facebook are responsible that the final product of any musical or artistic experience is the relay of this information. It�s not very important how many times it�s played but to how many people it can reach. Meanwhile, Sziget Festival is a good place to start. For more information and tickets visit this webpage: http://www.sziget.hu/

Alexa Ray

There�s nothing like getting apartments in Budapest and enjoying these five days with the best bands in the world today.

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Translated by: aleixgwilliam
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