Day 1 at UK@Sziget by Georgina Szilagyi, Head of Public Diplomacy
After a hard day’s night of Day Zero the ZARE day (Music Against Racism) we opened the British Embassy tent today on “Civil Sziget”. This is the part of the Sziget Festival where non profit organisations are represented. The main aim of our presence here is to give consular advice to British nationals visiting the Festival.We were pleased to hear that many of those Brits visiting our tent had travel insurance. We distributed beermats to bars placed around the main stage reinforcing different consular messages. It was also an opportunity to highlight various projects and activities the Embassy is involved in such as Human rights, Environment issues and the UN Millennium Development Goals. A steady flow of visitors through the day enjoyed the various activities and quizzes that were provided to draw attention to these issues.
The Ambassador came out at around 3pm to engage with our vistiors and the media. We served tea and biscuits in the afternoon, which was greatly appreciated by some festival goers as a break from the usual beer consumtion associated with these events.
As I’m writing this post two British police officers arrive at our tent. Their arrival in their uniform did unnerve a certain UK based member of staff. He almost dropped his tea cup.The police officers were invited by the Budapest Police and they will be at the festival for the rest of the event.
