This European festival could cure your Glastonbury 2026 late night blues

Glastonbury won’t be back in 2026 and while there’s plenty of day festivals around, scratching that late-night itch can be a little more difficult.

For any Somerset raver, Block 9, Shangri-La, and Arcadia’s Pangea are legendary but Budapest’s Sziget Festival could offer up a worthy alternative.

Sziget — which means ‘island’ in Hungarian — takes place on Óbuda Island, nestled on the Danube and offers non-stop music from 4pm to 4am.

While the self-titled ‘island of freedom’ brings in big-name headliners such as Charli XCX and Chappell Roan, it is built for an all-night party.

Metro headed to Hungary’s capital to see if the festival that last year was named ‘the world’s best’ lived up to the hype.

We arrived on Saturday, August 9, when the festival was in full swing, having already seen Charli XCX, Shawn Mendes and Kid Cudi’s headlining days.

Saturday boasted a main stage performance from FKA Twigs, with dance artist Anyma closing the show — a hint at where Sziget’s strengths lie.

Any Glastonbury-goer will recall how stripped of shade the farm is, so the copious greenery and covered stages (with a welcome air flow) were a huge improvement in the nearly 40-degree heat.

Tents littered shady spots but it rarely felt like the festival was too busy or full, except around the main stages for the headliners.

Eager fans can get a six-day ticket and camp on site, never needing to visit Budapest itself, although there is little to do before 4pm most days — this is where Sziget fails slightly.

Unless you’re keen to try the fairground rides, bungee jump or hang out on the beach, the best bet is to head into the city and sight-see until the music starts up again.

If you do venture out, a travel card is a must-have as these will cover transport as well as museums, thermal baths, and more.

The benefit of the festival’s late start means you have plenty of time to explore the city, which is bursting with culture and stunning architecture.

For music lovers with a night to spare, the House of Music in the city park hosts daily concerts featuring local and international artists across a variety of genres.

Alternatively, sleep off your hangover for as long as possible. You’re likely to have one as a beer will only set you back around £5 per pint.

In line with other European festivals like Primavera Sound, the headliner is only the beginning of the night — we saw huge groups of people arriving after Anyma’s set had finished.

After a day of travelling, Saturday defeated us slightly, but the laser lights emanating from one stage designed to look like the colosseum (made from wood pallets) called our name on Sunday.

Exploring the smaller stages, we discovered local band Sonya at the Jukebox, who, despite technical difficulties, brought some rock vibes to the afternoon.

Keeping up our international effort, we then watched French rapper Riles put on a bold performance, filled with anime-style artwork and a choreographed fight sequence mid-song.

Finally, it was time for Post Malone. It goes without saying that the Sunflower hitmaker put on a great show packed with bangers.

From impressive pyrotechnics to the humble charm of ‘Uncle Posty’ himself, the hour and 15-minute set was the perfect set-up ahead of the party still to come.

Keeping things casual, Post’s set was stripped back with the I Like You hitmaker smoking a cigarette and chatting to the crowd between tracks, giving the massive festival an intimate feel.

Hyping up the crowd by closing with Congratulations, Posty had everyone ready for the evening’s entertainment, which included UK stars Krept & Konan.

Once the sun goes down, Sziget bursts to life. Aside from the main stage, most stages are open late with at least three offering electronic music at any given moment.

Techno isn’t your thing? Head to the Revolut stage for synthpop goodness or the Coca Cola stage for a classic DJ set.

After hours of dancing and a close call with a tattoo shop (where you could get one small tattoo for a pricey 39,500 Hungarian Forint or £86), we called it a night — after all, Chappell Roan was waiting for us the next day.

Having spent a leisurely morning at the famed Széchenyi Thermal Baths, we headed into the festival around mid-afternoon for our final day at Sziget.

After grabbing some lunch from a burrito stall — all our meals had been surprisingly delicious across the weekend — we made our way to the main stage.

There may have only been three major names performing that day but they did not disappoint. Particularly Portugal, The Man and The Last Dinner Party, both of which made pleas for Palestine to huge applause.

Although the Feel It Still hitmakers put on a great performance, the crowd’s heart wasn’t in it. I think Sziget could take a page out of All Points East’s book here and streamline artists to be more genre-specific on the main stage each day.

If you’re only playing three acts, they should be hyper relevant to the headliner’s genre; otherwise, you have bored (and frankly a little rude) fans sitting on the floor at the barrier throughout other acts.

My thoughts were confirmed when The Last Dinner Party came out, with the audience, mainly made up of young women, instantly up on their feet and singing along.

Vocalist Abigail Morris proved once and for all that the London rock band are not an industry plant, twirling her way across the stage while hitting some impressive notes.

Then, after a crowd-warming performance from drag act Queenz, it was time for Chappell.

Compared to her Brixton Academy show just under a year ago, the Casual hitmaker has really stepped up her game, not only visually but in confidence too.

Chappell, 27, oozed effortless charisma as she belted out the majority of her debut album plus new releases The Giver and The Subway, the latter of which has been an instant fan favourite.

Against her fairytale castle backdrop, the star appeared in her custom-painted face dress; a look so filled with whimsy that would make 2006 Lady Gaga envious.

There’s no denying Chappell is a captivating performer and the perfect person to close the festival, as who could possibly follow those notes in Good Luck, Babe.

Unlike the previous nights, it seemed the Monday crowd were ready for bed with a mad rush to leave the festival, which the security team handled with ease at the exits.

Here lies the limitation of Sziget. The festival’s identity seems torn between a pop day festival and a late-night rave scene.

While it is pulling in big names and has one of the largest festival capacities in Europe, there is a disconnect between the day and night.

If you’re going to bring in these huge stars, more needs to be put on during the day with a far earlier or more packed lineup across the stages.

Or go full rave, abandon (expensive) chart toppers and make this an electronic destination with visually impressive stages and bigger techno stars.

That being said, as major UK rival Glastonbury is out for the count next year, 2026 could be the perfect time to discover Sziget Festival.

Pre-registration for Sziget 2026 is available now through the festival’s website.

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