Hungarian Conservative

This year’s Sziget Festival will take place from 7 to 12 August. Among the headliners announced on Wednesday is American singer Halsey, who has already received three Billboard Music Awards, an American Music Award, and has been nominated for a Grammy three times. The superstar is preparing for a new album release this year.

The contract extension for the Hungarian Grand Prix Formula 1 race will cover the comprehensive renovation of the Hungaroring, currently underway and scheduled to be completed by 2026.

Despite the surge in online streaming services, the study emphasizes, it is premature to underestimate the significance of films screened in theatres. In 2023, film distributors in Hungary reported a successful year with ticket revenues reaching nearly 22 billion forints and a total audience exceeding ten million. In Hungary, the study reveals that on an average Saturday evening between 8 and 10pm, over four million people tune in to television, with nearly three million supporting various musical talent shows.

The Budapest pass will remain valid throughout the entire capital, and starting from 1 March BKK will accept monthly passes for Pest County and national passes on its routes.

The Transport Minister proposed an increase of all salaries by at least a quarter of the present ones over the course of three years, and additionally, all MÁV and Volán employees would receive a uniform monthly wage hike of 70,000 forints this year.

The Mayor deemed the Transport Minister’s fare community proposal, the acceptance of county and country passes in the capital, and the preservation of the Budapest pass as steps in a positive direction on Tuesday, as conveyed through a post on his Facebook page.

‘Based on early ticket sales, we can see a tremendous interest in the 2024 festival. Next year, Sziget will once again host major global stars,
top performers of the day, and freshly discovered, contemporary musical gems,’ Tamás Kádár, the main organizer wrote in a statement.

The government resolution to continue the development at Hungary’s most famous racing track, Hungaroring has been adopted. The next phase of the upgrade will bring the quality of the Mogyoród track to the expected level of Formula 1.

Tamás Kádár proudly announced that the total attendance of Sziget this year was estimated at over 420,000. He added that although it is less than last year, the company cannot complain.

The Sziget Festival will last six days, until 15 August, on the Óbuda Island in Budapest. Performers from sixty-two countries will arrive at approximately forty venues, and the audience will come from over a hundred countries.

Spread across 76 hectares, this year’s festival was set up in three weeks. The maximum daily capacity is 90,000 people, including both festival staff and attendees, making Sziget the country’s tenth largest city for the six days of the festival. The main stage was constructed in ten days, with a floor area of over a thousand square metres and a six hundred square metre LED wall serving as its backdrop.

 ‘There are few Hungarian brands in the entertainment industry like the Sziget Festival, and we will forever be grateful to its founders for creating it. We are planning a grand celebration this year, which also signifies the beginning of a new era for us: we not only want to preserve the legacy of the past 30 years but also lay the foundation for the next 30,’ Tamás Kádár stated at a press conference in May.

Zsolt Gyulay, President and CEO of Hungaroring Sport Zrt., described the preparation process for the race as ‘extraordinary’ because the company not only had to focus on organising the race itself but also on concluding the negotiations for the contract extension, which has been ongoing for several months and could reach a conclusion at the current 38th Hungarian Grand Prix.