The 2020 festival season didn’t spoil us much. Cancelled festivals and concerts are all over the place. While planning next summer (fingers crossed), it’s good to see what festivals looked like a few years ago. Let’s go back in time and relive the 15th edition of Colours of Ostrava.
Fans across Europe will remember 2016 as ’that rainy year.’ From Rock Werchter to Glastonbury, the entire summer was marked by tons of mud. Rain jackets and wellies were the must-haves of festival clothing. Colours of Ostrava was no different. It was raining for days, but people still had a wonderful time!
The 2016 line-up
Colours of Ostrava is known for mixing music genres easily. The Czech festival always presents variety of artists from metal and rock bands to African reggae stars. In 2016, the main headliners were Underworld and Tame Impala, followed by Of Monsters and Men, M83 and more.
The first day of the 2016 edition started with a very special performance. Buddhist monk Lama Gyurme and French musician Jean-Philippe Rykiel welcomed festivelgoers with their spiritual music. Later that day, the main stage hosted a spectacular headline show by Tame Impala. Having just released their third album Currents, they were one of the most popular bands at that moment. They gave an hour-long concert, playing their latest hits like ‘Let It Happen’ and ‘The Less I Know the Better’. Other highlights of the set were older psychedelic songs like ‘Elephant’ and ‘Feels Like We Only Go Backwards.’ The Australians are masters at getting the audience off the ground, and this was no different at Colours of Ostrava. Kevin Parker, who is the main architect of the project, combined his affinity with romantic pop music and the dance beats of Daft Punk into one fantastic Colours moment.
Later at Colours of Ostrava 2016, the audience also enjoyed a memorable concert from rock band Kodaline, who took over the main stage. The Irishmen came to the Czech Republic to promote their second studio album Coming Up for Air, which saw the daylight in 2015. The band played all their hits, including ‘The One’, ‘High Hopes’ and ‘Love Like This’. Ending the gig with ‘All I Want’, Kodaline played one of their biggest shows to date during Colours’ Saturday night headline slot.
Festival grounds
The biggest highlight of Colours of Ostrava is its magical and unique festival grounds. It takes place inside a 19th-century industrial mine, Důl Hlubina. Visitors can stroll around the coal plant and blast furnaces, a milling plant, and other manufacturing buildings. The five different stages are located all across this spectacle of rusty machines. Moreover, you can climb the Bolt Tower, from which you have a fantastic view over the site and the city of Ostrava.
Sounds good? Check out the aftermovie and party like it’s 2016!
Colours of Ostrava 2021
Colours of Ostrava was first held in 2002. Since then, the festival has become the biggest festival in the Czech Republic. It has a capacity of 30,000 people and features performers from all major popular music genres as well as classical, jazz and world music. Many well-known artists such as Iggy Pop & The Stooges, Jamiroquai and alt-J have performed in previous years. The festival also offers discussions, theatre performances, films, workshops and art activities.
- Location: Dolní Vítkovice, Czech Republic.
- Date: 14-17 July 2021.
- Tickets: four-day pass from CZK 2 990 (aprox. €125)
- For more information, visit the official website.
