Legendary The Cure in Slovakia for the First Time – Pohoda Adds Extra Festival Day
The 30th edition of Pohoda will be celebrated in grand style – we’ve organised an additional festival day, with the legendary British band The Cure as the headliner. Alongside the usual three festival days, we’re adding a fourth day – Wednesday, 8th July 2026. Besides The Cure, there will be other bands performing, carefully selected by Robert Smith, which we will announce soon. Tickets for the extra festival day with The Cure are available from today, either as a standalone ticket for Wednesday, as a combo package for all four festival days, or as an extension to your existing three-day ticket. The first thousand tickets in each category are available at a discounted price. You can find all ticket types, age-related discounts, and prices for each sales wave on our website.
28. October 2025
The Cure coming to Pohoda is the realisation of our long-held dream, and we are excited that it’s happening for the festival’s 30th anniversary. The Cure are one of the best live bands in the world, and their performance at Trenčín Airport will surely be one of the highlights in the story of Pohoda.
“I consider The Cure to be such an influential band in music history that I’ve wanted to bring them to Pohoda ever since the festival began inviting international stars. It seemed impossible... But then the opportunity arose to organise an extra festival day, and what I’d been trying to achieve for more than twenty years was finally made possible within just a month, thanks to the fantastic cooperation of the band’s agent," says Michal Kaščák, the festival director, about the biggest booking in Pohoda's history. He adds, "We’re in for an extraordinary day. In addition to his own band, Robert Smith will bring two more excellent groups and has also confirmed a local artist right before his own concert. There are moments when we’re truly happy and proud to bring exceptional global artists to Slovakia – this is one of those moments. Miracles do happen…”
The Cure were formed in 1976 in Crawley, southern England. They had their first performance in 1978 and have since played around 1,800 concerts. Today, The Cure are among the most listened-to bands in the world. Their songs have amassed hundreds of millions of streams on Spotify, with “Friday I’m In Love” and “Boys Don’t Cry” approaching a billion.
The band has released 14 studio albums, several compilations and live recordings, and contributed to numerous soundtracks, including the iconic film The Crow. Lead singer Robert Smith also appeared in the cult animated series South Park. With their music, legendary tours, and influence on the music scene, The Cure were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2019.
Their early albums, such as Three Imaginary Boys (1979) and Seventeen Seconds (1980) placed them at the forefront of post-punk and the new wave movement. With Pornography (1982), they also ventured into darker gothic rock territory. In later years, they embraced a broader pop palette, with highlights being Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me (1987), Disintegration (1989) and Wish (1992). In the '90s and '00s, they released four more albums, but fans had to wait a long sixteen years for their next studio album. During that time, however, the band continued to perform actively, with several shows becoming part of their legendary history as the largest, most-watched, or longest performances. A memorable moment was Robert Smith’s birthday concert in Mexico in 2013, when The Cure played 50 songs over 257 minutes. In 2024, they released the much-anticipated Songs Of A Lost World, which has been globally regarded as one of the best albums of the year. The following June, they released Mixes Of A Lost World, a 24-track album featuring remixes by 24 artists, including Four Tet, Mogwai, Paul Oakenfold, Chino Moreno, and Orbital. And we likely won’t have to wait too long for the next album. The band has already returned to the studio to record 13 more tracks for their upcoming release, which we hope to see soon.
A Legend That Influenced Music, Fashion, and Generations
Along with The Cure, their leader, Robert Smith, has also become a legend and an icon. His distinctive look – black hair, bold makeup, and unconventional outfits – is as recognisable as The Cure’s sound. Together, they transformed the band into more than just a musical group – they influenced fashion (gothic, new wave), visual art, subcultures, and the way generations perceive melancholy and love.
Thanks to their unmistakable sound – a fusion of melancholy, guitar walls, synthesizers, and Smith’s voice – The Cure became one of the most influential bands in the alternative rock scene. The band’s sound has been described as post-punk, gothic rock, new wave, and alternative rock – but as frontman Robert Smith says, it’s all just “Cure music”.
In 2026, The Cure will perform at Pohoda with Robert Smith (vocals and guitar), Simon Gallup (bass guitar), Jason Cooper (drums), Roger O’Donnell (keyboards), and Reeves Gabrels (guitar). And since they’re one of the best live bands in the world, we believe their performance at Trenčín Airport will be the most memorable and iconic in the history of Pohoda Festival.
The main partner of the festival's extra day is ESET.