We simply could not keep away from the island on Tuesday either, and decided to make one last investigation before the party begins in earnest. To keep up with our spectacularly scientific methods, we went onto the other side this time, principally looking for food. Of which there was definitely more on offer, the Zing truck was open, we met a super friendly bunch of waiters at an Asian food stand but were a bit heartbroken to see another Mexican next to the Europe Stage, and not our beloved Mexkitchen.

The blog’s industrious co-photographer almost gave in to the temptation of vegetarian food, which in his case is almost unheard of. Basically, vegetarianism happens to him once a year, during Sziget- a true Sziget miracle then. Speaking of miracles, or more correctly, horror stories, there is a Christmas drinks stand on the island. Yes, you read it right: Christmas. Drinks. Stand. With mulled wine and such, though if the weather lords are right, such beverages might come in handy this weekend. Frankly I cannot picture temperatures low enough to make me drink mulled wine in August: if it’s a but chilly, put on a brave face and a cardigan and drink that spritzer.

The spritzer garden (which this year goes by the official name of Wine Garden) is almost ready though and of course the Szekszárd puns could not be left out. However, I am a bit worried about the spelling consistency of the island. Yes, I know, it’s a festival, not the Merriam Webster, but it’s slowly turning into fifty shades of spelling each English word. Wine is particularly slippery, with the occasional wein and wien version. I really like this last one though- ask in Hungarian, you get wine, ask in English, they give you Vienna. Also looking forward to the whine version so I can whine about it.

But enough senseless observations. From today on there will be concerts, merriment and whatnot, so we will be able to entertain you with more than food, landscaping tips and spell checks. Though the day is not yet a ‘full’ one, but basically the day in which Pink! will attempt to be more professional than Rihanna (not that hard, mind you). Judging by the catering requests she sent the organizers, she might actually be making soup before the gig, so let’s hope she’ll be done with the vegan pottage on time.

Even if she’s not, there’s plenty of other exciting things to do. At 3:15 PM you can start your day with the winner of Romania’s Sziget talent competition, Next Ex, then trot over to the Main Stage, where, for the sake of variation, you can see the Hungarian winners of the Nagy-Szín-Pad competition, Lóci játszik. They became popular after having been featured on the soundtrack of cult favourite For Some Inexplicable Reason, whose main character looks exactly like someone who’d lose his friends on Sziget accidentally and end up at random gigs.  

Incidentally, another band featured on the soundtrack, Rone, is also coming to this year’s Sziget, though the Sunday (Monday?) 3 AM slot might be prohibitive for some. Finally, before (if you really must) indulging into the ubiquitous Billy Talent and Pink, who might or might not fly over the stage, giving you a hell of a fright,  you should wind down with some feel good Balkan music by Dubioza Kolektiv, who this year got promoted from the World Music Stage straight to the main one.