Sziget Festival, one of Europe’s favourite festivals, has announced a whole bouquet of bands arriving to Budapest in the second week of August. (source: sziget.hu)

This year’s Sziget festival sees the welcome return of the legendary Iron Maiden, who last played at Sziget in 2008 during their spectacular Somewhere Back In Time World Tour. With a new studio album “The Final Frontier” due for release late Summer, Iron Maiden’s show this year promises to cover the whole history of the band including a taster of the new album! Faithless, the band that attracted the biggest main stage crowd ever will be back again. The most important bands of the moment will also be there, including last year’s 'group of the year' Muse, and Kasabian the creators of the „Album of the Year in 2009. Sziget will continue to present bands that are perhaps less well known to Hungarian audiences, but have proved themselves on the international stage: the critically acclaimed The Cribs will be debuting at Sziget, as well as the Belarusian ska-punk Lyapis Trubetskoy. Metal will be given a greater focus at Sziget this summer: Children Of Bodom, Monster Magnet, 69 Eyes, Paradise Lost and many more will be performing at this year’s festival.

 Muse

On an island close to nature, in the middle of town and yet in a green environment, the Sziget Festival awaits its party-loving festivalgoers for the 18th year running. The programs are as unique as the location: besides a wide variety of musical styles in dozens of venues there are cultural programs on offer too, ranging from street theatre to circus acts, from physical theatre to exhibitions. Previous visitors to the festival frequently name the unique atmosphere (second only to the huge selection of programs) as the festivals main appeal. This is the place where friendships are made, this is the place where great romances are born, and this place is the island in the middle of our hectic civilization where everyone can let go of their everyday worries. This Sziget is the island of friendship, the island of love, the island of joyful self-abandon, the island of freedom, the island of cultural diversity. That said, it’s worth keeping in mind this is also the island where the beer is cheap, the girls and boys are beautiful, and the exciting urban centre of Budapest is within easy reach. This is the Sziget that is an unmissable party, this year 11-16 August.

Sziget Festival has announced the first names that, according to the organisers’ concept include current stars, big comebacks and great promises. Among the confirmed names is Muse, one of the world’s most popular rock bands, after three sold out concerts at Wembley stadium and a wildly successful world tour they will be performing on the main stage at Sziget. Very few bands have managed as outsiders to infiltrate the incredibly exclusive Madchester rock community. The Gallagher brothers’ favourite band Kasabian is just one such group, who will bring their latest album - voted „Album of the Year” both by NME and Q magazines - West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum to Sziget. Papa Roach, who is always in training, hence always able to make great leaps will be performing his spectacular rock work out - which have expanded in 2009 to include his fifth album, Metamorphosis - on the Sziget main stage this year. Sziget is offering a real treat to ska fanatics: The Specials, who celebrated their 30th anniversary with a few exclusive concerts in 2009, will be paying Sziget a visit. This summer the Juno award winning Canadian rock band, Billy Talent will be giving a concert at Sziget. The band equally representative of post-hardcore, alternative rock and punk rock will be visiting Budapest as a stop on their European tour. This year Damon Albarn’s dream factory will be representing with its most successful product to date, the Gorillaz Sound System DJ set. Enter Shikari, the band that exploded into popular culture riding the waves of post-hardcore will be holding a power demonstration at the 18th Sziget festival too. And last, but not least Infected Mushroom is preparing an assault on all the senses with their concert at Sziget. The formation was recently named by DJ Mag, the world’s number one DJ info-port, as the world’s best psytrance production of all time.

Among the newly discovered performers will be a dozen names that recall the biggest parties in Sziget history. Among the newly discovered performers will be a dozen names that recall the biggest parties in Sziget history. Iron Maiden have been at the forefront of Metal for the last 30 years from their self-titled debut via their worldwide breakthrough album “The Number of the Beast” to the most recent masterpiece, “A Matter of Life and Death”. Iron Maiden have influenced everyone from massive acts such as Metallica, Anthrax and Slayer to aspiring metal stars Mastodon, Bullet for My Valentine and Trivium, while selling over 80 million albums and packing out arenas and stadiums Worldwide. They are renowned for their spectacular stage sets and uncompromising musicianship, and during their 08-09 “Somewhere Back in Time World Tour” they headlined in an astonishing 38 countries playing to two million devoted fans. The electro-pop formation Faithless has a huge fan base in Hungary, and so far have always put on ‘sold out’ shows at Sziget, and this year is their chance to prove that they’ve still got it. Also returning after last year’s success is the Canadian Danko Jones. The Hives, one of the most popular Swedish rock bands are repeat customers at Sziget festival. The audiences have also had the pleasure of The Toy Dolls, the band lead by singer-guitarist Michael Algar, aka Olga. After their hugely successful concert on the main stage, the Spanish Ska-P are organising an international ska convention at Sziget. Germany’s best reggae artist of Jamaican roots, Tilmann Otto, aka Gentleman will be bringing his latest studio album ‘Diversity’ to Sziget this year. The other end will also be there, represented by Bad Religion, perhaps the only band in the world that can boast a singer who is Darwin expert doctor in his spare time.

Sziget festival will also host a number of bands who are perhaps not so familiar to the ear, but have a good chance of becoming the favourites of the future. The Cribs, for example, will be arriving to Sziget festival on top form after the massive critical and commercial success of their album, ‘Ignore the Ignorant’. During Gwar’s incomparable heavy metal enhanced visual orgy at Sziget festivalgoers might run into George W. Bush or even Michael Jackson, or they can follow the magical adventures of Phallus in Wonderland presented by the world’s craziest metal band. After the Apennine Peninsula, the Torino based Subsonica is preparing to conquer Sziget. The Belarusian Lyapis Trubetskoy’s work has been critically acclaimed from Russia to Portugal, and won a number of prestigious awards and now the audience of Sziget festival can judge for themselves. This August festivalgoers can get better acquainted with the battle rap group K.I.Z. who released their last album ‘Sexismus gegen Rechts’ in 2009. Skindred, who introduced nu-reggae into the nu-metal movement has released its third studio album ‘Shark Bites And Dog Fights’ last year and will also be presenting it to the audience of Sziget festival this August.

source: sziget.hu