Slovakia Festivals: Pohoda Festival

What: Pohoda Festival 08
Where: Trencin Airfield, Trencin, Slovakia
When: July 18 -19
Web: www.pohodafestival.sk

Set against the breathtaking backdrop of the Váh River Valley surrounded by mountains and the historic Trencin Castle, the Pohoda festival transforms Trencin Airfield into a celebration of music & arts. Now into its 12th year Pohoda invites an international crowd to party with a host of world-wide talent performing on 7 different stages.

The line up includes Gossip, Fatboy Slim, The Streets, Editors, The Cribs, Blood Red Shoes, Richard Müller, Audio Bullys, Unkle (Live), Miss Kittin and the Hacker Live, Matthew Herbert Big Band (all 25 members!), Royal Choral Society, Slovak National Theatre, Joan Baez and amongst others.

Taking place over 2 days in the Slovakian city of Trenčín, Pohoda is a truly multicultural affair celebrating many genres of music from indie, opera, rock, world music, folk, classical, electronica and hip hop as well as showcasing interactive workshops in performance art, theatre, literature, film and visual art. With some UK festivals costing as much as a holiday Pohoda offers a good value for money escapade.

With 7 main stages Pohoda presents the opportunity to see a truly unique mixture of artists in an exciting and innovative setting. Other delights include bungee jumping, an art wall where artists paint a section at each year’s festival and a captivating family-friendly children’s area for the little ones.

The word Pohoda means “well-being” and “coziness” in Slovakian and the festival offers a ‘Relax Centre’ which incorporates massage, lots of holistic delights, and huge chill-out tents - giving the phrase 'chilling out' a whole new dimension.

Pohoda has grown from selling 140 tickets in its first year to over 27,000 people attending the event in 2007 with 18,000 camping.

Festival Information:

Friday – Acts on from 1pm – 2am, then dance stage and electronic acts till 8am

Saturday – Acts on from 12pm - 2am, then dance stage and electronic acts till 8am

Theatre activities and workshops from 10am each day

5 – 5:30am – Welcome to the sun, music as the sun rises over the mountains


Tickets:
Just €28 for 2 days – see www.pohodafestival.sk
You can also buy tickets from www.lastminute.com

Accommodation:
The most convenient accommodation is camping on site, for further information on accommodation see the Trencin tourist information site www.trencin.sk or email kic@trencin.sk

Getting There?
The site itself is Trencin airfield 120km from the country’s tourist friendly capital Bratislava.

Guests can fly into Bratislava Airport and get connecting services to Trencin.

Another option is to fly to Vienna and drive 30 minutes to Bratislava before picking a connecting service.

Trains from Bratislava to Trencin:
In general, all express trains from Bratislava to Kosice (via Zilina) stops at Trencin. The journey time is approximately 1 hour 35 minutes.

Trencin is one of the main stops of both inter-city and local trains on the route from Bratislava to Kosice.

From Trencin railway station visitors can use the shuttle service, timetables are the bus stops at the railway station, on Hasičská street, Električná street and by the Festival’s Nozdrkovská gate, where the bus stops.

Tickets for shuttle service costs 15,- SKK. The service will run during the festival non-stop but the intervals will differ – from four times an hour during the rush hours to once an hour during the night.

19 June 2008