Slovenská Sporiteľňa is the partner of the Slovak expedition at ESNS 2019. Thanks to SLSP, we have set up a "Slovak fleet" in Groningen – accommodation on ships for all of the artists and music professionals. The fleet comprises four beautiful sailboats: Poseidon, Ideaal, Willem Jakob and Dy abt fan starum. SLSP therefore brings innovations not only to banking access, but also to Slovak crew accommodation . The stay will be even more comfortable thanks to an accommodation package that each of the participants gets. Its contents will help the expedition members to be rested, fresh and ready for their grand performance…  → read more

The main part of the Slovak expedition set out from Bratislava for ESNS 2019 today at 4 a.m. in two buses. We crossed the German border a while ago and we’re headed for Groningen. Our production crew has already been working there hard, they placed the Garage in the morning and continue with the preparation of Grandstand 6: Greetings from Groningen to Bruce Nauman by Ilona Németh. You can follow their working achievements in short videos released on our instastories. You can get more information at Czech & Slovak Focus at ESNS event and at www.czskfocus.com. → read more

Czech and Slovak focus has partnered with renowned music magazines—Czech Fullmoon and British DIY—as media partners. Both have prepared magazines about our scenes, and all ESNS 2019 delegates will receive an issue in their festival bags. The magazines contain information about Czech and Slovak artists, our installations and activities in Groningen, interviews with heads of festivals, publishers, clubs, and radio stations, various attractions, and contact information of the delegates from our countries. You can browse the magazines before they get to music professionals from all around the world: they are available at the official website of the focus: www.czskfocus.com/magazines → read more

Tickets for P1 section parking spots are soon to sell out. You can purchase the last remaining P1 tickets here: https://www.pohodafestival.sk/en/product/parking-p1. The record-breaking parking ticket pre-sale trend can be seen in the record-breaking sale of Pohoda Festival passes, too, as there is an increase of 25 per cent compared to last year’s data (note that the 22nd edition of Pohoda Festival sold out). Thank you all for your interest :) → read more

Thanks to Urpiner, world-famous stars can play at Pohoda and, this time, it’s also thanks to Urpiner that Slovak artist can play abroad. Apart from that, the company has provided products from their portfolio that will be served to our artists as well as foreign delegates and guests of Slovak crew in Groningen. Exceptional Slovak beer for an exceptional event: the biggest showcase of Slovak musicians abroad of all time. → read more

Four "closely watched vans" set out to Dutch Groningen as the first part of the Slovak expedition. Eight members of the Pohoda production team loaded them with stage and sound system for the Garage, the bands' backline, the second installation (Niemand), two table footballs for the forthcoming tournament, drinks and snacks for artists and guests as well as promotion materials (hoodies, posters, special edition of DIY magazine...) Garage, where many of our artists performing at ESNS 2019 and Penguin Radio Showcase festival will present themselves, arrived in the Netherlands a while ago. Our colleagues have now two days to prepare the installations and ground for over 120 members of the Slovak expedition which is going to represent our scene at the biggest showcase festival in Europe. Keep your fingers crossed for us. You can follow the biggest presentation of the home scene abroad at the Czech & Slovak Focus at Eurosonic 2019 event and at www.czskfocus.com. → read more

The focus on the artists from the Czech Republic and Slovakia awoke interest in our bands even before Eurosonic itself. Many media from the Benelux area as well as The Skinny, DIY, Record of the Day, All Things Loud, and Clash Magazine have written about them. The last mentioned one praised The Ills and Isama Zing in the selection of the new acts to look out for. Clash compares The Ills to Explosions In the Sky or Mogwai and adds that their songs are wild rides of euphoria that are as thrilling as they are thoughtful. Isama Zing earned a comparison to more playful Aphex Twin, with Clash describing his work as dance music for the feet as well as the brain.  → read more

Charlotte Gainsbourg is another performer of Pohoda 2019. The French-English actress and musician is Serge Gainsbourg’s and Jane Birkin’s daughter. She became famous for starring in films such as Melancholia, Jane Eyre, 21 Grams and Nymphomaniac, and has received awards for the best actress from the César Award and from film festivals in Cannes and Bratislava. As a singer, she has released five albums, with IRM (produced by Beck) and the newest Rest resonating the most. The Guardian and The Independent ranked the latter among the best albums of the year. She collaborated on the extraordinarily personal record with artists such as Paul McCartney, Connan Mockasin and Blood Orange, and received the "French Grammy" Victoires de la Musique for it.  → read more

Next Friday at 4:30 p.m. we will be screening a documentary called Ostrov Hudby Film (Island of Music) in world premiere in Forum Groningen as a part of ESNS 2019. Ostrov hudby Film (“Island of music” in English) is an independent documentary about the alternative music scene in Slovakia. It features interviews with Slovak musicians and labels, captures the atmosphere of local summer festivals and zooms in on the flourishing club scene. What are the inner workings of the music industry outside of the mainstream? What is the measure of success for Slovak musicians? Can we even speak of “a Slovak sound”? More info: http://ostrovhudby.sk/en/film → read more

In less than a week, Dutch Groningen will be transformed into a city with the highest concentration of music professionals in the world. Thanks to Czech and Slovak focus at ESNS 2019, 21 artists from our countries will have a chance to present themselves in front of them. However, other Slovak bands will also have their opportunity at a parallel, more alternative Pinguin Radio Showcase Festival. The Wilderness, Raptor Koch and Vojdi are going to playing in one of the biggest bars in the centre of the city, De Drie Gezusters, during the Thursday night within a programme curated by Pohoda. → read more