Coca-Cola SZIN wrapped up the 2024 summer festival season in style │ Szegedify

The 56th edition of the Szegedi Ifjúsági Napok – Szeged Youth Days – aka SZIN Festival is officially in the books. The four-day-long frenzy of music concerts and other amazing festival-related activities held on the New Szeged riverbank has tied a neat little bow to this summer’s Hungarian open-air music festivities.

Thursday night at the 2024 Coca-Cola SZIN Festival. Photos by Y.F.

With over 200 artists and bands, averaging out at around 50 concerts a day, Coca-Cola SZIN, the “big summer closer”, as performers affectionately refer to it, was a huge success and a real treat for festival goers young and old. Among the esteemed musical acts, there were huge domestic and international names such as Azahriah, Dzsúdló, Krúbi, Beton.Hofi, Pogány Induló, Bëlga, Rúzsa Magdi, Zara Larsson, and even none other than Armin van Buuren. Returning from a long holiday, the Dutch DJ, who traditionally has a very good relationship with the Hungarian audience, chose Szeged to perform his never-before-seen show for the first time, in which 100 lucky audience members had the unique opportunity to enjoy Armin's fantastic live show up close, partying on the main stage.

To further enhance the enjoyment of all the musical delights, there was an abundance of catering options as well, ranging from 9 wine vendors, 42 kiosks selling a variety of drinks, 26 food stands, and 7 other snack bars, including delicacies offered by the likes of Pizzafutár, Zsupsz Cafe, Zing Burger, Szent András Brewery, etc.

For people, who wished to have a little break and recharge between concerts, several other pastime opportunities were also available. Next to the SZTE stage, the University of Szeged had a futuristic tent where visitors could participate in a wide variety of activities including taking selfies with the life-size cardboard cutouts of the institute’s two Nobel laureates, Albert Szent-Györgyi and Katalin Karikó, playing several fun games, learning the basics of CPR and even undergoing a mole screening. The “civilian village” was also an excellent place to unwind with a myriad of fun games and challenges offered by American Corner, Móra Ferenc Museum, Motiváció Műhely, and the fencing club of the University among many others.

Photos by Péter Takács

The immense interest in SZIN culminated in a sold-out final day on Saturday. From the thousands of people who have visited the festival area during these four days, the majority were Hungarian, both local residents and from all over the country. Not surprisingly, however, foreigners were also attracted to the renowned Szeged Youth Days with people coming from neighboring countries like Serbia and Romania, but also from as far away as South Asia. Regarding his experience, Sahil, an expat from India told us: “I have attended the festival on Saturday with my friend. We really enjoyed the whole thing, especially the 90s disco (Necc Party) at the end.”

Although the festival itself and thus this year’s summer festival season came to an end Sunday morning, the organizers have already announced the exact date of the next edition of Coca-Cola SZIN. Mark your calendars, as between August 27-30, 2025, the last and arguably the best installment of the annual Hungarian festival circuit will once again close out the summer with a bang.