Pol'and'Rock Festival

Woodstock stop 2013

View from the main stage, 2011

Pol'and'Rock Festival is an annual early August in the Polish Kostrzyn nad Odra ( Küstrin ) take-find rock festival . It has the motto “Love, Friendship and Music” and has been taking place regularly since 1995. In 2014 the festival had 750,000 visitors. Until 2017 the festival was called Przystanek Woodstock (German: Woodstock stop ), after which it was renamed due to trademark disputes over the use of the word "Woodstock".

background

The rock festival was born with the idea of thanking everyone who volunteers in January every year in Poland to help collect donations for children's hospitals . It is organized by the Wielka Orkiestra Świątecznej Pomocy Foundation . This foundation also covers the costs for the entire event.

The model and namesake for this event were both the Woodstock Festival and the TV series Alaska , which was popular in Poland at the time and was called Przystanek Alaska in Poland . Nationally and internationally known artists appear every year. 2002 and 2005 included Die Toten Hosen , 2011 The Prodigy and 2018 Judas Priest . Furthermore, well-known personalities answer questions from festival participants in the tent of the Academy of Fine Arts . Lech Wałęsa in 2009 , Joachim Gauck and Bronisław Komorowski in 2012 and music manager Peter Jenner in 2013 .

history

Woodstock 2003 stop in Żary

The first Woodstock stop took place on July 15 and 16, 1995 at Lake Zarnowitz ( Gniewino municipality, Czymanowo district ) near the Baltic Sea coast. The second festival took place in Dąbie (Szczecin) in 1996 . In contrast to the previous year, the strict alcohol ban was relaxed somewhat.

From 1997 to 2000 and from 2001 to 2003 the festival took place in Żary . In 2000 the festival was supposed to take place in Lębork (Pomerania). However, due to organizational problems and protests, it was finally canceled. The following year Żary was host again.

The Woodstock stop has been located on the site of a former military training area north of the town of Kostrzyn nad Odrą since 2004 . In 2004 the organizers counted 400,000 visitors, in 2007 about 300,000 were counted. In 2011 the festival reached over 700,000 visitors.

2008 - 14th stop

Balcerowicz at the Woodstock stop

In 2008 there were 150,000 to 200,000 visitors at the festival, 30,000 of them from Germany. For the first time, the festival lasted three days from August 1st to 3rd. In addition to Polish and German bands such as Thee Flanders , the Swedish-Norwegian band Clawfinger and the British band The Stranglers were also at the festival. Wiesław Ochman also performed with the Polish Choir of Seven Tenors and the Mazowiecki Teatr Muzyczny Operetka Orchestra . The bands received an expense allowance of 125 euros for their performance. The festival program also included numerous cultural events; including an Indian cinema, discussions with writers such as Manuela Gretkowska , and politicians such as the former finance minister and head of the Polish central bank Leszek Balcerowicz . New in 2008 were the 1st Woodstocks Olympic Games with the possibility of athletic competition and a final “marathon” across the festival site. The festival was secured by the 1000-strong festival's own Pokojowy Patrol (peace patrol ) , which is mainly recruited from young people, as well as ten German police officers.

2009 - 15th stop

Lech Wałęsa at the festival (2009)

As in the previous year, the festival lasted three days (July 31st to August 2nd) and, according to the organizers, there were around 400,000 to 500,000 visitors at the festival. On July 31, Brandenburg's youth minister, Holger Rupprecht, and the former Polish president Lech Wałęsa opened the festival. Another record was the number of blood donations; around 2000 people donated at the mobile blood donation point. 30 musicians and bands performed on the main stage, including Caliban , Clawfinger , Volbeat , Dżem , Guano Apes , The Subways and Juliette Lewis . In the so-called village of fine arts , politicians and artists answered questions from the public. Here were among others Lech Wałesa, Tadeusz Mazowiecki , Leszek Możdżer and Michael Lang , the organizer of the Woodstock Festival in 1969. There was also one death during the festival; a 35-year-old died of circulatory failure in his tent.

2010 - 16th stop

Andrzej Wajda with his wife Krystyna Zachwatowicz on the 2010 bus stop

In 2010 there were around 250,000 to 300,000 visitors at the festival. Among the 50 or so bands and musicians who performed were Ewelina Flinta (Poland), Nigel Kennedy (UK), Life of Agony (USA), Leszek Możdżer (Poland), Papa Roach (USA) and Peyoti for President (UK). At the Academy of Fine Arts ( Akademia Sztuk Przepięknych , ASP), Jerzy Buzek , Marek Kondrat and Andrzej Wajda , among others , answered the questions. The films Beats of Freedom - Zew wolności and The Katyn Massacre were also shown. The city of Łódź and the Cytryna cinema organized Łódź_Stock . Among other things, the film studio Se-ma-for was a guest at this event, some stage sets from the Museum of Cinematography in Łódź were exhibited and various films were shown. 1,200 police officers, 200 fire fighters and 70 employees of the railway security service took care of the security.

2011 - 17th stop

The 17th stop took place from 4th to 6th August 2011 and it officially began on a Thursday and ended on Saturday night. The bands included Gentleman & The Evolution , The Prodigy , Helloween , H-Blockx , Dog Eat Dog , Kontrust , Plateau - Projekt Grechuta , Talco and Airbourne . Guests at the Academy of Fine Arts included Marek Belka , Piotr Pustelnik and Marek Koterski . Various non-governmental organizations were also represented at the festival. So Greenpeace Polska, Fundacja ITAKA, Klub Gaja, the independent student association and the German cooperation partner of the Great Christmas Aid Orchestra, the Kindervereinigung e. V. Seelow. Barriers were erected in front of the stage for The Prodigy to perform. This was the first time such barriers were erected. The band's management requested this for security reasons. This contradicted the will of the main person in charge of the festival Jerzy Owsiak and led to discussions after the concert. John Fairs, manager of The Prodigy, wrote in a press release that it would be the most insecure festival of his 25-year career. Owsiak contradicted this. He referred to the 3.50 meter high stage, through which an alley in front of the stage is created independently, and to the experiences of 17 festivals, at which accidents never occurred without barriers.

According to the police, over 700,000 guests attended the festival.

2012 - 18th stop

Joachim Gauck and Bronisław Komorowski

The 18th festival took place from August 2nd to 4th, 2012. The Darkness , Machine Head , Ministry , Sabaton , In Extremo , Shantel and Elektryczne Gitary performed, among others .

Both the Polish President , Bronisław Komorowski , and the German Federal President Joachim Gauck attended the official opening .

2013 - 19th stop

Crowdsurfing in front of the small stage

The festival took place from August 1st to 3rd and had around 450,000 visitors. Among the performing bands were Anthrax , Atari Teenage Riot , Danko Jones , Enter Shikari , Colors Teaching , Kaiser Chiefs , Leningrad , Third World and Ugly Kid Joe . Music manager Peter Jenner , General Roman Polko , and priest Adam Boniecki answered questions from the festival participants in the tent of the Academy of Beautiful Arts . Around 1200 police officers from different voivodships and Germany ensured the safety of the festival. At the opening of the festival there were already 160,000 participants on the festival site. On August 2nd an incident occurred during the live broadcast of Szkło Kontaktowe in the tent of the Academy of Fine Arts. A 25-year-old climbed onto the stage and hit journalist Grzegorz Miecugow before the security guards could arrest him. The police then arrested him.

2014 - 20th stop

View of part of the 2014 festival site

The festival took place from July 31st to August 2nd. According to the organizer, 750,000 visitors were at the stop. As usual, a wide range of rock, punk, folklore and reggae was offered by around 60 bands. Performing artists included Skid Row , Accept , Volbeat , Ska-P , Protoje , Ky-Mani Marley , Manu Chao, and The Bosshoss . The Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus and Pastor Wojciech Lemański spoke at the Academy of Fine Arts .

There was one death, a 41-year-old visitor with circulatory problems had to be taken to the hospital, where he died. The cause of the problems was not initially clear. A total of 1500 medical interventions were necessary. The police spoke of a very safe festival, there were 148 incidents, including 45 petty thefts, 86 drug offenses and 2 assaults. At the end of the festival, the police were present on the premises to give drivers the opportunity to check in advance whether they are sober.

2015 - 21st stop

Wiewiórstock

The 21st Woodstock stop was officially held from July 30th to August 1st, 2015, but some concerts took place on the evening of July 29th. Interior Minister Teresa Piotrowska was present at the official opening . According to police estimates, there were 200,000 people at the concerts on Saturday. The police spoke of a safe festival, they reported 174 incidents, including 50 thefts and 92 drug offenses. The band Wiewiórka na Drzewie (Squirrels on the Tree) has been organizing a fourth, unofficial stage called Wiewiórstock since 2008 . In 2015, Zenek Kupatasa , singer of the Polish band Kabanos , performed alongside smaller bands and the organizer Wiewiórka na Drzewie .

2016 - 22nd stop

At the appearance of Bring Me the Horizon

From July 14th to 17th, 2016, the festival took place for the 22nd time. Because of World Youth Day 2016 in Krakow , the Woodstock stop started a few weeks earlier than usual. Inner Circle , Tarja Turunen , Dragonforce , Apocalyptica , Living Color , Bring Me the Horizon and The Hives performed, among others . For the first time, the festival had to meet stricter security requirements. A 6 kilometer long fence was drawn around the inner festival area and significantly more security forces were deployed. The Polish police reported 169 incidents with more than 80 arrests. In addition, more than 30 thefts were reported. The organizer announced that due to the high costs of the security measures, the festival could possibly have taken place for the last time in 2016.

2017 - 23rd stop

View of part of the festival site, 2017

Despite fears that the festival was about to end, the organizers announced on July 21, 2016 that the 23rd stop would take place from August 3 to 5, 2017. However, since then there have been again disputes with politicians, who have long been a thorn in the side of the festival. For example, the Polish Interior Minister Mariusz Błaszczak had repeatedly spoken to the conservative ruling party PiS of an “increased security risk” and justified this with the refugee policy and increased terrorist threat in Germany. Most recently, German fire brigade and THW personnel were also unloaded, who had been taking care of security on the site with their Polish comrades for years, as one could “not guarantee their security”. However, there were no border controls or significantly increased security measures on the part of the government.

2018 - 24th Pol'and'Rock

In 2018, the name of the festival was changed because the rights holders no longer allowed the use of the Woodstock brand. Under the new name Pol'and'Rock, the festival took place from August 2nd to 4th, 2018. Performing artists included Judas Priest , Alestorm , Arch Enemy , Soulfly , In Flames , Alpha Blondy and the Goo Goo Dolls .

2019 - 25th Pol'and'Rock

The 25th Pol'and'Rock Festival took place from August 1st to 3rd, 2019. According to the organizers, there were a total of 750,000 visitors. According to the police, there were around 285,000 visitors to the event site at the peak.