The world music stage has some great traditions at Sziget, also known for the fact that it presents exciting new acts and also the biggest names of this musical sphere.

The Pogues are surely amongst the legends, they basically created the Irish folk-punk style. It’s been 20 years since singer Shane MacGowan quit the band and started his own project, The Popes, but neither that, nor the remaining version of The Pogues came close to the success of the original band, active between 1982 and 1991 and recording great LP’s like Rum, Sodomy And The Lash, or If I Should Fall Grave With God.

We are happy to report that they are back together and promise a superb show at Sziget.

Of course it’s not just about Irish music at the world stage, as you will also find a great number of bands playing latin, or ska. And some of them mix the pleasures, like La Selva Sur and Che Sudaka from Spain, or Mexican ska stars Los De Abajo.

And we surely shouldn’t forget about Figli Di Madre Ignota, playing their special „Spaghetti Balkan”, or Sergent Garcia, combining raggamuffin with salsa, thus creating the universe of „salsamuffin”. And also don’t miss the powerful gig of Russian ska combo Leningrad, Bosnian Dubioza Kolektiv and Sicilian Roy Paci & Aretuska.

Besides Irish, ska and latin, of course you will get a whole bunch of Balkan bands this year. Yes, by now it’s quite impossible to imagine Sziget without them. Acts like Goran Bregovic Wedding And Funeral Band, Emir Kusturica & The No Smoking Orchestra, Shantel & Bucovina Club Orkestar and Fanfare Ciocarlia will surely make you understand why the new stage name includes the word „Party”.

Hungarian bands will also present some Balkan and ska tunes, amongst them Besh o droM, Pannonia Allstars Ska Orchestra and the Hungarian-Ukrainian-German cooperation of Rotfront. While probably the most anticipated Hungarian gig on the world stage will belong to Quimby, who are huge stars of the domestic scene.

Breaking all style barriers is the clear mission of this venue, so make sure you check out LaBrassBanda – reinventing Bavarian brass tunes, while you also shouldn’t miss Maroccan gnawa-rock act Orchestre National De Barbés, or Athens-based Imam Baildi.

And there are so much more! Great bands, like French-Algerian HK & Les Saltimbanks, Dutch klezmer icons Amsterdam Klezmer Band, Spanish Muchachito Bombo Infierno, Mexican Molotov and Narasirato from the Solomon Islands complete the line-up.

To sum it up: 25 bands on 1 stage to represent 1 world. Any better ideas to spend that week?

More information and tickets: szigetfestival.com