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Austria’s Barracuda Music is reviving “the mother of all festivals” Forestglade to mark the event’s 30th anniversary in 2025.
A forerunner to the CTS Eventim-backed promoter’s Nova Rock and Frequency Festival, Forestglade was launched in 1995 but has not taken place since 2012.
However, the company is resurrecting the festival on 11 July, topped by three former headliners: Cypress Hill, The Sisters of Mercy and Therapy?
H-BlockX, K’s Choice, Dog Eat Dog and The Godfathers are also confirmed for the reboot, which will be held at Esterházy Palace Park in Eisenstadt.
Standing tickets are available at the opening rate of €79.99 until 13 December, after which the price will rise to €99.99. Seated tickets are also on sale for €139.99.
Barracuda has also announced outdoor shows by Bonnie Tyler & Nazareth, who will perform on the Mörbisch lake stage on 29 July, and Public Enemy, who will grace Vienna’s Arena Open Air on 14 July.
Separately, Nova Rock will be headlined by Korn, Linkin Park, Slipknot and Electric Callboy in Pannonia Fields, Nickelsdorf, from 11-14 June, while FM4 Frequency Festival will return to Green Park St Pölten for its 25th birthday edition on 14-16 August, with the lineup still to be announced. Other Barracuda events include Lovely Days and Clam Rock.
“We’ve seen a lot of competition this year that we did not have in the past, like Live Nation’s Rolling Loud festival and the Lido Festival from Arcadia,” Barracuda co-MD Richard Hörmann tells IQ of Austria’s growing festival scene. “So there is more in the market, but all the festivals seem to sell well.”
“No other promoter is doing festivals on this scale in such a way”
The new issue of IQ Magazine, which will land on subscribers’ desks in the coming days, features a market report on Austria.
Elsewhere in Europe, Poland’s Good Taste Production is debuting Bittersweet Festival next year in Citadel Park, Poznań from 14-16 August. Nelly Furtado is the first headliner to be confirmed, with other acts including Rag’N’Bone Man, Hurts, Mel C and Ella Eyre. Three-day passes are on sale now at the introductory price of 588 Polish złoty (€138).
Speaking to IQ earlier this year, Good Taste creative director Sara Kordek explained the company has a different take on festivals to most, with a stable of smaller events.
“All of them except one are up to 5,000 capacity,” said Kordek. “And I think that makes a difference because they’re calculated in a different way when you think about the production. You don’t need international superstars to make them work. And the sponsors are more eager to invest because they know that they have a more dedicated audience.”
Among Good Taste’s productions is Jarocin rock festival near Poznań, the boutique Salt Wave on Hel Peninsula and the travelling Letnie Brzmienia festival.
“It has Polish arena-level headliners – eight slots per day – and we’ve played in nine cities,” added Kordek. “No other promoter is doing festivals on this scale in such a way, so we don’t really have any competitors in this field.”
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Poland’s Salt Wave festival has released the first Salt Wave Sessions, a series of short concerts recorded live during summer 2020.
Like nearly all other European festivals, Salt Wave, promoted by Poznań-based Good Taste Production, was forced to call off its 2020 edition as a result of the coronavirus crisis. The second edition of Salt Wave would have taken place this August in the resort town of Jastarnia, on the Hel Peninsula on Poland’s Baltic coast.
“Unable to organise the second edition of Salt Wave Festival, and terribly itching to spend time on the Hel coast, we decided to capture few mini-concerts on the water, which we would broadcast when the summer had passed,” explains Good Taste’s Sara Maria Kordek on the genesis of Salt Wave Sessions. “Now, we proudly hand over to you effects of our summer work in this very strange year.”
The first Salt Wave Sessions videos, which can be viewed on Salt Wave’s YouTube channel, feature Polish electro-pop trio Kamp!.
Salt Wave will return on 20 and 21 August 2021.
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