Did I tell you that one of our photographers, Sanyi is also a stuntman?  Well, we have been shooting aerial panoramas of Sziget Festival for some time, using kites and poles, but this is the first time one of us would hang himself at some 20 meters in order to accomplish this.  You have to check this one out.

And while on the subject of panoramas shot from (way-way) above, Aldo has shot one in the middle of the Pendulum crowd using his big fat pole.  Yes, Ladies, he's got one.  I will use Aldo's own words to introduce this one, as he so eloquently summed it up:

"Pendulum was supposed to play at last year's festival, but they had to cancel last-minute because of a fatal accident while transporting their gear. This year they made up for it, opening for The Prodigy. They dedicated their performance to the person who did not make it out of that accident.

I thoroughly enjoyed being in the back of the crowd, and I was clearly not the only one; it felt as if the whole island was drawn to the main stage area, leaving bars and other stages all but empty. They sure set the bar high for Prodigy to follow them up." 

[ see the stunt pano | behold the Pendulum crowd | see all Sziget 2009 panoramas ]

Two words for you: Emily Loizeau. She was brilliant. The small but relentless audiance would not let her go. Upon her third return to the Amphitheater Stage, she climbed down to her fans and having quieted them down (a miracle in itself) she sang a goodbye song accompanied by two acoustic guitars as if around a campfire among friends. Amazing voice and persona.

Then them Barkas boys from Holland. Radio Barkas is possibly (likely, I'd say) the smallest travelling radio station. They have taken an old East-German made Barkas bus, cut it into three pieces then reassambled only the front and back, resulting in a super minivan, if you know what I mean. Running on an electric motor, it the shrunk down Barkas houses two turntables and a load of vynils. Let us show you.

[ see Radio Barkas | see all Sziget 2009 panoramas ]

The festival has officially begun.  Headliners: I AM X, Nouvelle Vague, SKA-P, Snow Patrol and Lilly Allen.  But, as always, Sziget is not just about music. Once again, expect an amazing mix of performances, installations and activities.

Don't let the vendors and sponsors distract you from what this festival is all about - just cause pizza vendors now have their own jumbotrons the size of those by the Main Stage.  Watch out for the likes of Emily Loizeau on the hidden Amphitheater Stage, the ethnic Hungarian Hungaricum installation, the randomly surfacing street performers and those of the Traveling Fun Fair - to mention a few.

 [ see the Hungaricum Village panoramas | see all Sziget 2009 panoramas ] 

Funny story. Sziget Festival ran for 7 days for several years, than in 2008 it got shortened to 5. What to do? Add Day -1 and Day 0 to the mix and voila! almost as if nothing changed. Well, not quite, but you get the idea. In 2009 Day -1 became a day for celebrating Hungarian old timers', the band Tankcsapda's twentieth anniversary. Day 0 wadubbed the day of Music Against Racism, headlining a staggering number of Hungarian jazz and pop musicians.

[ see the Pre-Festival Panoramas | see all Sziget 2009 Panoramas ]