The festival season here will be opened at the turn of May and June by Metalfest in the amphitheater in Pilsen, Lochotín. This year the biggest stars will be American Five Finger Death Punch, Dimmu Borgir or Marko Hietala with Tarja Turunen, former members of Nightwish. “They appear on the same stage after eighteen long years. Their joint tour, entitled Living the Dream – The Hits Tour 2024, will tour South and Central America in the spring. Immediately afterwards, however, Tarja and Mark will move on to a completely unique and exclusive performance that they are putting together for the Plzeň Metalfest!” the festival organizers from the Pragokoncert agency stated earlier. They also prepared a change for fans when buying tickets. “If you’re just waiting for a paycheck, but you don’t want to miss one of our concerts, you can postpone the payment for the purchase of tickets until later, or you can split the payment into installments,” says a recent news item on the Metalfest website.
A few days later, on Tuesday, June 4, the legend of world rock will perform at the same place Sting.
From Wednesday, June 5 to Sunday, June 9, the 26th edition of the International Folklore Festival will take place. In addition to Pilsen, where the main part of the program will take place on the U Branky stage on the weekend, part of it will also take place on Wednesday, June 5 in Konstantinovy Lázně and on Thursday, June 6 in Plasy.
In third place, lovers of classical music genres will head to the amphitheater before the holidays. This year’s Night with the Opera will bring the musical Dracula on Tuesday, June 25, and the opera Libuše on Saturday, June 28. “We selected both titles as a contribution to the nationwide cultural event Year of Czech Music. Libuše under the open sky will be the imaginary highlight of the complete cycle of Smetana’s operas. According to the composer’s intention, Libuše should only be performed on exceptional occasions, such as the celebrations of the Year of Czech Music and the Night with the Opera, without a doubt,” said Martin Otava, director of the JK Tyla Theater in Plzeň.
Another of the big metal festivals, Basinfirefest, will take place from June 26 to 29 in Spálené Poříčí. Originally it was supposed to be only three days long, the first time from Thursday to Saturday, but in the end it will start one day earlier, already on Wednesday. “It was the only possible date when Fear Factory could perform here. It may seem unconventional, but this is how we’ve been doing the Brutal Assault festival for years. People usually go a day earlier anyway, so there shouldn’t be a problem with Wednesday, and the end of Saturday is better because they can rest after the festival on Sunday,” explained Tomáš Fiala on behalf of the organizer. On one stage prepared by the festival, for example, Blind Guardian, Cradle of Filth, Kataklysm and In Extremo will perform, and from the Czech bands Niakara, the former bass player of Arakain, Zdeňka Kuba, and Pan Lynx, who was recently declared the discovery of the year in the Žebřík poll. “In addition to the concerts, some accompanying attractions will also be prepared for the fans, we are planning to expand refreshments and related things,” added Fiala.
Just one week later, the two-day Pekelný ostrov in Holýšov will be held with bands from the Czech rock top such as Vypsaná fixa, Tři sestry, Harlej or Divokej Bill. “The festival organizer has prepared a significant discount on the entrance fee for non-contributory blood or plasma donors. At the same time, the discount can also be used by new people interested in donating, who undergo at least one collection before the start of the festival. A ticket to Hell’s Island in Holýš costs 800 crowns. Tickets can be purchased now at the e-shop www.vstupenkovna.cz,” said Jiří Kokoška, spokesman for the Hospitals of the Pilsen Region. The same event also applies to the August Chodrockfest in Domažlice, which has the same organizer.
For fans of dance music, the 11th edition of the Bolevák Music Festival is being held on the weekend of July 19-20. On the Ostend beach at the Bolevecký pond, he will once again bring the best of the Czech and Slovak scene.
The end of the holidays will once again belong to the Street Festival in Pilsen. Around a hundred mostly regional bands will always perform on it, but it also offers an accompanying program for the whole family. This year it will take place from August 16 to 24.
Metalfest has announced the headliner. They will be Five Finger Death Punch
A cultural program throughout the summer is also prepared at Zelená Hora Castle near Nepomuk. For example, a concert by Vysvásné fiky, which celebrates 30 years this year (May 31), Children’s Day (June 1), Aneta Langerová (August 3), the legendary Prague Selection (August 9) or Marie Rottra (August 17).
