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Think Sziget and you think live music but there’s plenty going on beyond the Main Stage and out of the spotlight. Here we select six great things to see and do that offer a range of strange experiences, from sunlight-filled labyrinths to audio-visual domes.
Recirquel: Liberty Love Rave
Fourteen years after their first island performance, Bence Vági’s company returns with a world premiere created specifically for the festival. Liberty Love Rave involves 30 dancers, eight to ten artists and a DJ/MC all at the same time, while tracing the arc of a rave night of new circus, street and modern dance, and electronic music. Moreover, this is no traditional, juggle-and-tumble type of circus: the creators’ goal is for the audience to gradually become part of the party themselves. The performance will be staged at Le Grand Théâtre every night of the festival at 11pm, and will only be seen on these five nights. For more, see here.
Luminarium – MYRIAD
If you need a place where you can completely forget that you are in the middle of a festival with tens of thousands of other people for 20 minutes, look no further than the Architects of Air’s MYRIAD Luminarium. This 900-square-metre inflatable structure is a labyrinth of tunnels and domes, the interior of which is not illuminated by projected lights, but by sunlight filtering through its transparent elements. MYRIAD draws inspiration from the stars in the sky – its tiny openings and colourful domes, which act as light sources, create a completely different atmosphere at every turn. The installation will be on display throughout the Sziget festival. For more, see here.
Before I Die
At first glance, it may seem like a simple black wall, but it is actually one of the most personal communal spaces at Sziget. Candy Chang’s project leaves one sentence unfinished: “Before I die, I would like…” – and the rest is up to you. The initiative, which originally started in New Orleans, has now produced more than 5,000 walls in over 75 countries, and returns to Sziget in 2026 as one of the most popular installations of previous years. And there’s more to this than thinking up your own answer, but also reading through everyone else’s: a trip around the world, having children, love, reconciliation and a completely absurd bucket list can all be found alongside each other. For more, see here.
Arzenál × Turbina: Der Klub
What happens when you take two of Budapest's most happening underground clubs and mash them together on Óbuda island? This is pretty much Der Klub, which Sziget has created together with Arzenál and Turbina as part of the electronic music-based Delta District. The interior, designed by urban installation team Hello Wood, features a suspended ball of light at its centre, and the programme moves around it, from acid and trance to hardstyle and house. The line-up includes KiNK, Charlie Sparks, fka.m4a, DJ Fuckoff, Shonky and Slym & Szoliver. This is a real clubbing experience at a rock festival, which is a little darker, a little more intimate and where it's easy to lose track of time until way past dawn. For more, see here.
Art of Freedom
Walking around Sziget, you may have learned that it is worth looking up, sideways and sometimes inside the strangest-looking structures. At the Art of Freedom, installations by independent artists will cover various points of the festival. There’s the seven-metre-long Mirror Tunnel, Balázs Hugyecsek’s Heartbeat, the five-metre light installation New Age Man, as well as the interactive Wind Gate and Textile Nest. The good thing about it all is that you don't have to switch to exhibition-viewing mode, you just come across these works between live shows, over a meal or while you’re stroll aimlessly. For more, see here.
Le Dôme
An intimate performance space by day, a 360-degree audio-visual installation by night – Le Dôme is one of the most interesting venues in the new Jardin des Arts. In 2026, Sziget will house a contemporary circus, dance and experimental performing arts in a separate cultural district, while Le Dôme represents its more intimate, more immersive side. It will host several Art of Freedom productions, including Anna Borràs and Márton Debreczenyi’s How to Hold a Heart, Eva Palandjian’s dance theatre performance Pace Out and Permafluxa by Dávid Gerlei and Emese Kovács, which combines music and movement. If you’ve had enough of live music and are looking for something different, dive into Le Dôme. For more, see here.