Alter Art Cracks Another Heineken

The sixth edition of the country’s Heineken Open’er Festival has smashed its attendance record by pulling more than 40,000 per day to Gydnia’s Babie Doly Airport in Poland.

It’s the second time the brewery-sponsored event has been held on the Baltic Sea coast site, having outgrown the city’s 25,000-capacity Kosciuszki Square in 2005.

Last year, the first on the airfield, the festival fell a little short of selling out but this year’s bill – topped by Bjork, Beastie Boys, Muse and Sonic Youth – saw most of the tickets sold before the gates were opened.

The first Heineken drew a 10,000 sellout crowd to Warsaw’s Tor Stegny Stadium in 2002, when The Chemical Brothers were the only international name, and since then the event has expanded rapidly.

Among the other acts taking off in Gydnia (June 29 to July 1) were Groove Armada, Bloc Party, The Roots, LCD Soundsystem, Laurent Garnier and Dizzee Rascal.

The strong lineup of local acts included Crazy P, OSTR, Freeform Five, Smolik, The Strike Boys and Apteka.