Why you need to check out Sziget in 2013

„Sziget, a dreamlike music festival in Budapest, is the sort of place where implausible things become commonplace. Each day 75,000 sun-tanned people from all over Europe drift and flirt their way around an island in the Danube. They visit mock Communist fun fairs, where Hungary's oppressive history becomes a chance to kick a mannequin from behind to see how far his hat flies off. They strap themselves into sky-bars which lift them 150ft into the airwhere they can sip rum cocktails with a man dressed in a novelty pirate costume. They slip away into the city to soak themselves in the ancient heated spring baths. At night they flit between banging house raves, gypsy parties, burlesque shows and surreal theatre performances. The organisers say that a full 30 per cent of the programme isn't even music - we think they're talking about the theatrical sideshows and not just offering a critical opinion of RizzleKicks.

But if it's music you want, Sziget has something for every palette. In the daytime we see the likes of Wild Beasts serving up their lush harmonies and dance with somebody to Mando Diao. As night falls the xx demonstrate how being coolly understated doesn't necessarily preclude you playing epic festival shows and The Stone Roses prove that you don't need a Delorean to travel back in time as long as you have a little bit of goodwill and a whole lot of classic tunes. Snoop Dogg steals the show. »No one throws a Eastside party like we do,« he proclaims at one point, and that goes for the former Eastern bloc too. He's a natural showman, but even his crowd-pleasing, hit-packed set takes a turn for the bizarre when he's joined onstage by "Nasty Dogg", a mascot-style avatar of himself with a huge novelty spliff and a long furry penis that he unrolls from his shorts and whips around.”