Response to the lies about the Pohoda festival

Response to the lies about the Pohoda festival

There is a rumour on the Internet saying that Michal Kaščák, the director of Pohoda, stated in Rádio_FM: “Nation, Christianity, and similarly oriented bands have no place at the Pohoda festival. If Iʼm to be honest, they should not even exist and play.” This statement is nonsense. Religious orientation and national beliefs of performers do not play a role for us, we are a free festival. There are Christians, Jews, Muslims, members of other religions, and non-believers playing at the festival. We have performing artists from 30 countries, which means they are of many nationalities, and the biggest number of them are local bands. Pohoda was opened with Antonín Dvořákʼs Biblical Songs and concluded with an ecumenical worship service; we had perform perhaps the most popular Slovak gospel band, Heartbeat, and several church choirs; there were several Christian non-profit organisations in the NGO passage. Pohoda hosted the concerts of the Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, the Slovak Chamber Orchestra, and several ensembles of traditional music. Finally, we wish to state that the organiser of the Pohoda festival does pay all the applicable taxes and fees. → read more

18. July 2018
St. Vincent, Chemical Brothers, Reykjavíkurdætur and more make Slovakia’s Pohoda Festival a leftfield gem

St. Vincent, Chemical Brothers, Reykjavíkurdætur and more make Slovakia’s Pohoda Festival a leftfield gem

Ride, Tune-Yards and Confidence Man were among the weekend’s other top-hitters. Roughly translated as “comfy” or “contented”, Pohoda Festival – located in Trencin, Slovakia – separates itself from the bulk of UK and European weekenders from the off. Rather than cramming as many people as possible in to watch one of that season’s big names on the circuit, the emphasis here is on the whole experience. At 30,000 capacity (and sold out), it’s busy but not overwhelmingly so; vast areas dedicated to lounging around, drinking wine and perusing various stalls / talks / arty diversions dominate the field, while the music stages are easily accessible and, thankfully, almost uniformly joyously loud. In short, after last weekend’s Finsbury Park disasters, it’s a welcome reminder of how festivals can and should be done. → read more

13. July 2018
Gigwise: The Slovak jewel in the European festival crown: Pohoda 2018 reviewed

Gigwise: The Slovak jewel in the European festival crown: Pohoda 2018 reviewed

"Diversity and community are buzzwords these days. Sometimes it seems as if the internet was specifically designed to enable shameless virtue-signalling. Words such as these are often brandished and bragged about, when there is little sign of them in reality. Pohoda Festival genuinely delivers however. My third time there, I’ve seen it improve and develop although it has actually been growing in reputation and stature for 22 years now. Flippantly I once described it as the Glastonbury of Eastern Europe; but on a smaller scale with a more manageable 30,000 people, Pohoda boasts spectacular green credentials and a spotless, easily navigable site. I can honestly proclaim it to be one of the best outdoor festivals in the world." → read more

12. July 2018
New Pohoda 2018 merch available in our shop

New Pohoda 2018 merch available in our shop

Starting today, merchandise from the new Pohoda 2018 collection is available in our shop. There are last pieces left of the current series. Later in the summer, we plan to print some more best-selling T-shirts and sweatshirts. Tickets for Pohoda 2019 are already on sale: we currently have 3,000 3-day tickets each for € 89. If not sold, the pricing will continue until the end of the summer, i.e. until 23 September 2018. You can buy tickets and merchandise here: www.pohodafestival.sk/en/shop → read more

11. July 2018
How the foreign artists evaluated Pohoda 2018

How the foreign artists evaluated Pohoda 2018

Some artists didnʼt have to write or say anything. For example, Sixto Rodriguez asked his driver halfway from his hotel to the Vienna Airport to turn around and go back. He wanted to stay at Pohoda for a while longer and personally thanked us for a great festival. Jamie Cullum even said he would like to come Pohoda also as a visitor, not only as a performer and Charlie Winstonʼs team said they would send a bus of festival organisers to Pohoda next year to make them see how to do things right. We received a beautiful e-mail from the founder of the Kronos Quartet, and Pohoda was mentioned in several posts by The Chemical Brothers, Donny Benét, Rebel Babel, and Bazzookas. Everything Everything and many others wrote that this has been their best festival this year. You can find the posts here: → read more

10. July 2018