Pol’and’Rock and Sziget shortlisted among best international festivals

Warsaw, Poland – The Pol’and’Rock and Sziget Festivals have been shortlisted among the best international and overseas festivals in the world by the U.K. Festival Award 2019.

The two Central European-based festivals will face a tough competition for the coveted award: also nominated for ‘Best Overseas Festivals’ are Belgium’s Tomorrowland, Portugal’s Afro Nation and two renowned Austrian events: the Altitude Comedy Festival and Snowbombing.

Pol’and’Rock Festival – Poland

More commonly known as the “Polish Woodstock”, the Pol’and’Rock Festival is one of the biggest and most popular festivals in Poland, an “island of freedom and tolerance, a place where people can form a community based on mutual respect and their shared love for music”.

In line with the values of solidarity it seeks to promote, the Pol’and’Rock festival is a non-profit and non-ticketed event which attracted, this year, 700,000 people music-lovers who came flocking to the city of Kostrzyn nad Odra, near the German border.

Apart from concerts of both home-grown and international talents and international, Pol’and’Rock also hosts a wide range of workshops, discussions, stand-up shows and panels. Everything is free. Organizers recently announced that next year’s edition will take place on the last week-end of July and first days of August 2020. The line-up, however, still remains shrouded in mystery…

Sziget Festival – Hungary

Arguably the most well-known festivals in Central Europe, Sziget needs no introduction and has become over the years one of the major venues for music-lovers in Europe.

First held in 1993, the Sziget Festival is organized every year on the Óbudai-sziget island in the Hungarian capital city of Budapest, attracting over half a million people from all parts of Europe and boasts one of the most impressive line-ups on the festival scene. This year, people could come listen to such names as Ed Sheeran, Florence + The Machine, Tom Odell, Macklemore or the Foo Fighters, among many, many other performers in this musical feast and extravaganza. The next edition of the Sziget Festival will be held from August 5 – 12, 2020.

On the other hand, if you’re looking for the best alternative and lesser-known events beyond Sziget and other well-known international festivals, you can check out Kafkadesk’s home-made guide to the less mainstream festivals held all-year long in Hungary.