Two Days of Alternative Music in Mysłowice

This year’s “Off Festival in the Słupna Watering Place” can be expected to become one of the country’s most significant musical events of the year. Conceived and directed by Artur Rojek, lead of one of Poland’s most successful alternative rock groups “Myslovitz,” named after the small Silesian town, the festival is becoming an important mark on the musical calendar.

Last year’s festival received a wide appreciation from fans as well as the press. During this year’s preparations, Rojek said that he plans to “light some fire in a good cause,” and both the line-up and the list of additional events prove that it does burn.

The two-day festival is filled with alternative music on three stages, starting from the early afternoon up to well past midnight, when the most famous bands will perform. Among them are the “Australian band Architecture in Helsinki,” whose style has been defined as “Flaming Lips with an incredible amount of sugar” or UK’s “ILIKETRAINS,” playing post-rock-intelligent-goth.

Additional events will also be held during the festival. An “Indie Label Workshop,” will be conducted by Philippe Petit and Markus Detmer. As the name suggests, this will not be a traditional music workshop. Petit and Detmer will discuss how to create and handle an independent record label, explaining the means of producing and distributing albums, promoting them using the Internet and organizing concerts.

After the main part of the “Off Festival” ends, Mysłowice is hosting another event that’s worth staying in town another day for. On Sunday the IndustrialART festival is being held, aiming to show Silesia from many different angles represented by artists of different trades. Among the planned events are: a preview of Wilhelm Sasnal films, a mural by Edward Dwurnik, and a mobile installation “YAPPER,” created by Tomasz Bajer and Andrzej Dudka Durer, which will be driven around the city.

The Festival will kick off August 17, at 13:00. Tickets can be bought on the Internet on

www.ticketpro.pl, www.ticketportal.pl, or www.eventim.pl.

A two-day ticket costs 45 zloty until August 16 and 55 zloty during the festival. One-day tickets can be purchased at the event for 35 zloty. Mysłowice is 70 kilometers from Krakow or 10 kilometers from Katowice. Getting there by train takes about 1 hour and 15 min. For further information in English concerning the line-up, directions to the Festival and important tips, visit: www.en.off-festival.pl