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Wednesday 8, August 2007
BUDAPEST, August 8-13 (UNHCR) – The Sziget Festival in Budapest is one of the largest open air youth rock festivals in Europe. Up to 400,000 visitors come to the seven day event each year.
Traditionally, UNHCR is present at the Festival with an activity-tent where visitors can enjoy the shade reading and discussing about refugee issues, filling in quiz questionnaires, as well as meeting refugees and refugee-workers.
An exhibition of UNHCR posters catches the eye of some 200,000 passers by. More than 500 festival visitors join activities offered at the tent.
For many rock fans this is the first time they learn about refugees. UNHCR and its partners spend more than 300 hours in seven days discussing refugee issues with interested youth. Some visitors are so impressed that they offer donations or voluntary work to help refugees.
Visitors of the tent can get a special UNHCR T-shirt as a souvenir. These T-shirts are seen on the streets of European cities many months after the Festival too.
Andrea Szobolits in Budapest, Hungary
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