Sziget Gets Slice Of Turkey

The team behind Hungary’s Sziget Festival has taken over the booking and production of Turkey’s Rock-N-Coke Festival, after the relationship between former organizer Pozitif Productions and headline sponsor Coca-Cola went flat.

“I suppose it was a bit like a marriage when both partners sort of drift apart,” said Baris Barasan of Pozitif, which had run the festival since it started in 2003.

Acts that have headlined Rock-N-Coke, which is on the edge of Istanbul on Hezarfen airfield, include Muse, The Prodigy, Linkin Park, Moby, Pet Shop Boys, The Rasmus, The Cure and Limp Bizkit.

Istanbul-based Pozitif, which is currently subject to a takeover bid from Dogus Holding A.S., one of Turkey’s largest private equity firms, will now be running a new summer-long series of shows in the city.

The talks between Dogus and Pozitif, the country’s largest promoter, are now at the due diligence stage and neither side is making comment.

Meanwhile back in Budapest, Sziget Cultural Management has also taken over the booking of Park, an outdoor venue on the banks of the River Danube near to the Rakoczi Bridge.

Park has four performance areas: There’s a 4,000-capacity main stage, a 2,000-capacity Pop-Art stage, plus the Retro Garden (1,000) and the Dome (500).

This year’s Rock-N-Coke is Sept. 6-8.