Sziget Festival closes with record attendance

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This yearʼs Sziget Festival, the annual week-long musical extravaganza on an island in the Danube in Budapest, drew a new record 565,000 visitors, the festival organizers said on Wednesday at the end of the event, national news agency MTI reported.

The previous record was set in 2016, when the festival attracted 496,000 visitors. Organizers had expected record attendance already before the start of the 2018 edition, although probably not this many, MTI observed.

Spending on headliners was raised by almost HUF 1 billion this year, as the first step in a three-year growth strategy for the festival, said chief organiser Tamás Kádár. Next year, the budget for main stage stars will increase by half a billion forints, he added.

Among the headliners at this yearʼs festival were Kendrick Lamar, Gorillaz, Lana Del Ray, Mumford & Sons, Dua Lipa, Kygo and Arctic Monkeys. Headliners for next yearʼs festival could be announced as soon as next month, the organizers said.

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