Pohoda Slovakia Takes Stock Of Alternative Event Series ‘Pohoda On The Ground’

Dutch rising stars Altin Gün performed at
Martina Mlcuchova
– Dutch rising stars Altin Gün performed at “Pohoda on the Ground.”

The promoters of Pohoda Festival in Slovakia ran a five-day event series dubbed “Pohoda on the Ground,” July 7-11, after being forced to cancel their main event for a second year running. 
Members of Fulu Miziki, a multidisciplinary ensemble of musicians from Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of Congo).
Martina Mlcuchova
– Members of Fulu Miziki, a multidisciplinary ensemble of musicians from Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of Congo).
The artists create their instruments from materials that have been discarded as waste.

It had been important to festival founder Michal Kašcák to offer the same level of varied programming people have come to expect from Pohoda, even if the maximum daily capacity had to be reduced to 1,000 instead of the usual 30,000.

The lineup included Albin Gün, Dry Cleaning, Wooze, alongside a host of Slovakian artists like Miklei, Varkocs, Nina Rosa, Trilobeat, Vojdi, Jimmy Pé, Fyasco and many more.
Jewish DJ Ramzy Al Spinoza and Palestinian rapper MC Safaa Hathot played a symbolic set in a decommissioned military radar that’s not usually open to Pohoda visitors.
Fulu Miziki, who create their instruments from waste, invited on the stage the Jobus brothers who have a very similar artistic approach to everyday objects.
Belgian band Shht solved the singer’s Covid-related absence by involving friends, other performers and visitors. The circus formation 12 Birds & 1 Stone was on site and unmissable during all festival days.
Visitors of "Pohoda on the Ground" made the most of the massively reduced capacity on site.
Ondrej Košcík
– Visitors of “Pohoda on the Ground” made the most of the massively reduced capacity on site.
The event series took place on Trencín airfield, just like the main event.

The Saturday was live-streamed nonstop for 14 hours, streaming from several stages, and including some pre-recorded footage. The live stream was seen more than 3,000 times on the festival’s website, more than 2,000 times on YouTube, and Facebook videos were watched more than 18,000 times, according to a press release from the organizers.

Pohoda Festival takes place on Trencín airfield, and visitors made use of the limited capacity by moving around side on skateboards and rollerblades.
Three main stages had been arranged in a circular design on the aircraft stand, awareness-raising art installations, debates and workshops were part of “Pohoda on the Ground,” as well. 
A pilot project of returnable dishes was implemented and all equipment was connected to a fixed electricity network. 
“We have experienced five extraordinary days. Since we started setting up the structures, there has been an unprecedented cordial atmosphere at the Trencín airport. It was accentuated by the entry of the first visitor at noon on Wednesday, and has remained here until now. The joy of meeting each other was endless, as was the desire to create something and present or perceive art. I am happy that we were able to meet our visitors again, who confirmed that they are the most valuable asset we have,” said Michal Kašcák after the festival. 
The capacity of "Pohoda on the Ground" was 1,000 per day.
– The capacity of “Pohoda on the Ground” was 1,000 per day.
All unvaccinated guests and staff had to take a daily coronavirus test.

According to organizers, almost three quarters of the visitors were vaccinated, all the others were tested. Production crew as well as several vaccinated visitors were preventively tested. The unvaccinated, staff as well as guests, were tested each day.

During the five days not a single positive COVID-19 result was recorded in more than 2,200 tests, according to promoters, who concluded, that 
“the ‘Pohoda on the Ground’ festival series has shown that well-established cultural events can be even safer from the epidemiological point of view than the streets of our cities.”
Kašcák commented,”The Pohoda on the Ground Festival started as a concept full of uncertainty, and all obstacles are negligible in terms of its outcome. The measures were worth it; I feel that we have managed to create a space full of freedom, a celebration of art, tolerance, and the joy of meeting. 
“I would like to thank everyone who contributed to its implementation—the commitment of many was huge and admirable, and visitors made sense of all our efforts. Also this Pohoda has shown the importance of live art. We keep our fingers crossed for the other organizers of live culture events; we wish them to experience similar feelings of joy as we are experiencing now, so that they can realize their events in the freest possible format. We cannot wait for the festival in its full version and we are looking forward to Pohoda 2022 [July 7-9] at the magical space of Trencín Airport.”
Confirmed names for Pohoda 2022 include Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Libertines, Richie Hawtin, Black Pumas, Metronomy, Wolf Alice, slowthai, Shame, Hatari, The Comet is Coming, Pengshui, Injury Reserve, Bazzookas, Emel Mathlouthi, Space Lady, shht, Malox, Asmâa Hamzaoui & Bnat Timbouktou.