Twenty One Pilots Bring Torches and a Tower Drum Kit to Sziget 2026 Night Two
Sziget Festival 2026 hit its second night on Budapest's Island of Freedom, with Ohio duo Twenty One Pilots headlining and Ashnikko playing a late-night 23:45 slot on the Revolut Stage. According to NME's on-site report published August 13 (written by Jordan Bassett and Rhian Daly), Twenty One Pilots deployed fireworks, torches and a second drum kit rigged above the crowd, while Ashnikko staged her set as an Alice in Wonderland-style fantasy theater.
Twenty One Pilots: torches, a drum tower, and a Jack White "authorization"
The headline set leaned heavily into theatrical staging, with pyrotechnics and flame effects running throughout. After "Tear In My Heart," drummer Josh Dun walked onstage holding a lit torch, planting it center-stage in an Olympic-opening-ceremony style moment; flames then shot along the back of the stage as "Jumpsuit" kicked in.
Dun later left his kit, ran along the barrier at the front of the crowd, then climbed a tower rising above the audience where a second drum kit was waiting — he sat down there to keep the beat going for "Drum Show." Tyler Joseph followed later in the set, climbing a smaller structure in the middle of the crowd to sing "Ride."
The final touch was a guest cameo: a pre-recorded video of The White Stripes frontman Jack White played on the big screen. He said "I'm Jack White" and stated he was authorizing Tyler and Josh to do this — cueing a full-crowd singalong of "Seven Nation Army."
Ashnikko: through a hole in her handbag, through the mirror
Ashnikko's fanbase, known as the "Demidevils," packed the Revolut Stage well before her 23:45 start, cheering at every flicker of movement on the screens flanking the stage. The 30-year-old singer didn't appear at first — her voice led the way into the tent — before she climbed onstage through a small door, framed in the show's narrative as having been reached through a hole in her handbag.
The whole sequence followed an Alice in Wonderland thread: after passing through a mirror, Ashnikko appeared to undergo some kind of transformation, exclaiming "Oh my God!" in the tone of British pantomime as she questioned what was happening to her. When she appeared on the cover of NME in 2023, Ashnikko said her shows were meant to be "a safe space" for audiences.
Atmosphere on the island
NME also noted the crowd on arrival — men in nude-tone bodysuits paired with bow ties, women carrying elaborate handbags — and, while passing through the festival's Travelling Funfair area, sightings of a pig mascot chatting with fellow Szigetians.