The Pohoda Festival was founded in 1997 as a one-day event and has gradually developed into the most visited multicultural open-air event in Slovakia. However, it is not only an art festival where alternative, indie, electronica, world music and punk meet classics; along with literature, dance, visual arts, film and theater. It is mainly a place where we all meet our loved ones and strangers every year and together we create a unique oasis of well-being.
In 2023, the Pohoda Festival became the best medium-sized festival in Europe (Best Medium Sized Festival, European Festival Awards). For years, he has been advocating for the weak, drawing attention to important topics in society with events such as the Koncert pre všímavých, Koncert pre Martinu a Jána, Koncert pre Ukrajinu, Slovenská krčma, Slovenská tepláreň.
For years, the Pohoda festival has brought us hope, love, belonging, and respect for otherness. We decided to support it in this way after Friday's storm and give you space to join us.
The Pohoda festival must continue
Culture in Slovakia is generally bad. Culture was not favored by the pandemic or inflation, after which expensive bands became even more expensive, prices are also rising for supply services. Financial difficulties, although not tragic, did not avoid Pohoda either. This year's festival was supposed to be the one that would make the Pohoda Festival more comfortable on its own. This did not happen, the event was canceled by a storm. The organizers made one of the most difficult decisions – not to continue, but to end the festival prematurely for the highest safety of all participants.
According to data from weather stations in the area, the wind gust reached a speed of 97.2 km/h at the airport. Meteorologists from iMeteo say that it was DERECHO – a large and long-lasting system of fast storms that move linearly. These storms are typically associated with strong gusty winds and can cause extensive damage to property, trees, and infrastructure. Wind gusts exceed 90 km/h and affect an area of at least 400 km.
According to the information provided by the festival director Michal Kaščák, a phenomenon called DOWNBURST occurred locally, which cannot be predicted despite the fact that the situation was monitored directly at Pohoda by an expert of the Slovak Hydrometeorological Institute (SHMÚ). A downburst is an intense downward flow of air that, upon contact with the earth's surface, produces a divergent flow with devastating effects. Divergent means that the air flows sideways when it touches the earth's surface.
Let's give back to the Pohoda Festival what it has been giving us for years.
Since the tragedy years ago, the Pohoda festival has undergone many changes to improve the mechanisms for protecting the safety of its participants. She replaced the tent contractor with Kayam, which also supplies these structures for events such as Glastonbury and Roskilde, and is considered a „Rolls Royce“ among tents. It works closely with the SHMÚ, who are directly present at the festival and announces warnings and warnings from the stages. It was no different this year. Unfortunately, storms cannot be predicted with perfect accuracy and many did not have time to protect themselves sufficiently this year.
The Pohoda festival creates a safe, accepting and peaceful environment in our space-time. Every year, for three days, it creates a space for free art, love, and mutuality, which each of us experiences every year at the airport and we need so much in today's time of uncertainty. Let's give it back what it gives us so that it can continue.
THANK YOU on behalf of the iniciators.
Anténa – sieť pre nezávislú kultúru, SHARPE festival, Otvorená Kultúra!, Asociácia hudobných klubov Slovenska, Uprising festival, Bratislavské Jazzové Dni, Spoločnosť Mariána Vargu, Konvergencie, Flaam festival, Festival 66 hodín, Festival Atmosféra, Rock For People (CZ), Lala Slovak Music Export, Nová Cvernovka, Pink Whale.
Photo source: Pohoda festival, Facebook
