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Polish festival, formerly known simply as Woodstock Festival Poland, is set to take place next week.
The event, inspired by the ideas and atmosphere of the original Woodstock'69 and boasting a capacity of up to 500 000 attendees will go on as planned in spite of constant undermining by the conservative Polish government. With headliners such as Prophets of Rage, Skunk Anansie, Lordi, and Gogol Bordello among dozens of international and Polish performers billed to play at this free festival, the event will take place in Kostrzyn nad Odrą in western Poland. This three-day music and art extravaganza was meant to be an expression of gratitude for public support of the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity Foundation, but it attracts a loyal following of music fans from all over the world.
The driving force of the festival are ideals of peace, love, freedom and tolerance. As such, Pol'and'Rock Festival is an a-political event and an established hub for showcasing the activities of various third-sector organisations. Festival organisers aim to engage the massive audience in an open discussion about religion, arts, equality. Currently, the festival is set to educate the festival-goers about critical global issues with a focus on environmental protection and ecology. However, the ruling right-wing conservative party obstructs the organisation of the festival. It has, for example, attempted to withdraw the support of fire services and to cancel - and following a considerable public and media pressure re-establishing - additional train services.
It seems that Pol'and'Rock Festival is a beacon of civic freedoms and one of the last vestiges of hippie culture in the modern world. Spearheaded by the charity's founder, the charismatic Jerzy Owsiak, the festival sets out to continue the traditions established by the "An Aquarian Exposition: 3 Days of Peace & Music".
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| | | | | | Main Stage at night. Pol'and'Rock 2018. Photo by B. Muracki |
| | | The biggest Polish charity organises Pol'and'Rock Festival. Annually, hundreds of thousands of music fans from all over the world descend on a small community of Kostrzyn nad Odrą in western Poland. This year, the festival celebrates its 25th anniversary with three days of music, meetings, and other activities. Five stages of the festival will feature performances by the likes of Prophets of Rage, Parkway Drive, Gogol Bordello, Crossfaith, Ziggy Marley, as well as dozens of other Polish and international artists.
The non-commercial festival is set to take place on 1-2-3 August 2019.
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| | | | | | Balancing act. Photo by P. Barbachowski |
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