Warsaw’s authorities have outlined plans for a new 22,000-capacity arena for sports and entertainment events.

Poland’s capital city, currently, does not have a large indoor venue and is now looking to progress plans for a €350m project.

The arena is slated to be built on a site next to the National Stadium, PGE Narodowy, on the east bank of the River Vistula. The plot must first be transferred from the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage to the Ministry of Sport and Tourism, which is set to happen in July.

It is estimated that all the relevant permits can be obtained within the next two years with construction taking another three years.

Renata Kaznowska, the City of Warsaw’s vice-president, told local reporters that the project is essential for Warsaw, claiming it is the only capital city in Europe to not have a large indoor venue.

“I am aware that Warsaw, and also Poland, miss many events; many international entities would like to organise events in our capital but have nowhere to do so,” said Kaznowska. “That is why Warsaw simply needs this hall.”

“I am aware that Warsaw, and also Poland, miss many events… Warsaw simply needs this hall”

The project is most likely to be funded by either a public-private partnership or a special purpose vehicle (SPV) created by the State Treasury, said Minister Nitras, adding that a draft bill concerning finance has already been prepared.

Nitras told newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza: “The hall, similar to the National Stadium, would have a ‘national character’ and become an arena for the most important events in the country. Its construction is, therefore, important not just for the city but for the entire country.

“In Poland, only the Tauron Arena in Kraków is close to the standard [that we want]… The organisation [of the most important events] in the capital would also have an impact on the popularisation of Poland as a tourist destination, attracting fans from all over the world to Warsaw.”

Although work is underway on building a 6,000-seater sports hall in the city’s SKRA complex, currently the only viable indoor venue in Warsaw is the outdated 4,800-capacity Torwar.

The country’s existing arenas that host live music include Arena Gliwice, TAURON Arena Kraków, Ergo Arena in Gdańsk, Spodek Arena in Kraków and Atlas Arena in Łódź.

Read more about Poland’s arena market in the recently published Global Arena Guide 2024.

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With a new, more liberal government incoming, and a population whose demand for live entertainment is increasing year on year, Poland appears to be on the brink of a new era. However, some tricky obstacles during 2023 have made that path a bit more complex to navigate than many in the live music business would have wished. Adam Woods reports.

These are significant days in Poland – “the end of the evil times,” as prime minister-in-waiting Donald Tusk called them, after taking a close second place in the country’s parliamentary election in November, in a result that looks likely to oust the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party in favour of a centre-left coalition.

For now, liberal democracy seems to have given populism a bloody nose in the fifth-biggest nation in the EU, although certain obstacles – including an incumbent right-wing president – still remained at the time of writing.

And just as Poland’s political direction is both full of promise and yet somewhat undecided, so its live business is an intriguing work in progress. It has been buffeted lately by some familiar challenges, but it remains a maturing market with huge untapped potential, moving in the right direction. “And we know it,” says Mikołaj Ziółkowski, founder and CEO of Alter Art, promoter of Poland’s biggest festivals, including Open’er and Orange Warsaw. “We have not been using our resources to their full potential. We feel we have still got space to develop as an industry, and we are really optimistic about the upcoming year.”

Certainly, Poland has a great deal going for it. In terms of national wealth, its GDP per capita of $45,343 sits just ahead of European markets such as Portugal, Hungary, and Croatia, and not too far behind Czechia, Spain, Lithuania, and Estonia [source: IMF]. Likewise, its appetite for tickets is also formidable, and while Warsaw is clearly the focus of things, other big cities are in the mix, such as Kraków and Katowice in the south, Łódź in the centre, Poznań further west and Gdańsk on the Baltic coast.

“There’s certainly a lot of things happening,” says Good Taste Production creative director Sara Kordek. “You have lots of festivals, at all levels; you have different venues, at all levels; you have 38 million people that listen to music.”

“We now have to work twice as hard to build trust among our potential clients to make sure they have no reservations about buying tickets in advance”

It is true that the year nearly gone has been a complicated one, due to a list of factors any live professional can reel off with ease: cost of living; production and talent inflation; competition for headliners; and the effect on the market of several years’ worth of stadium shows all arriving at once.

Under these conditions, highly active Polish promoter Follow The Step came unglued in August. The heavily undersubscribed On Air and FEST Festival events were both cancelled as their parent company’s troubles mounted, and Follow The Step has since suspended operations and focused on attempting to settle its liabilities and find a buyer for certain assets.

The impact of the failure of such an ambitious promoter has been felt across the business, with sponsors losing some of their nerve and ticket-buyers questioning the safety of their investment.

“A situation like this affects everyone in the business ecosystem, including artists, industry professionals, customers, and venues,” says Konrad Kozioł, director of sales and marketing at Arena Gliwice. “We now have to work twice as hard to build trust among our potential clients to make sure they have no reservations about buying tickets in advance.”

Poland is accustomed to playing a difficult hand. With Germany to the west and Belarus and Ukraine – and, of course, Russia – to the east, it has regularly been caught in the push and pull between bigger powers, leaving a question mark against its name in the minds of many further west – booking agents among them.

“Poland stands out as a unique market in various respects”

“Poland stands out as a unique market in various respects,” says Filip Potocki at FKP Scorpio Poland. “On one hand, the enthusiasm for live events in the country is comparable to that of the largest European markets, with Warsaw closely trailing its Western counterparts. However, on the other hand, Poland’s geopolitical location poses challenges that can significantly impact the industry.”

But particularly in Poland’s big cities, which typically are strongly pro-Ukraine and pro-EU, the electoral swing towards Europe feels like a welcome platform for good things to come.

“All the economic predictions for next year are very good,” says Ziółkowski. “Our industry is very connected to what is happening with the country, and if the political situation and the economy are better, more stable, more progressive, it will give us the opportunity to develop the market as well.

“If you compare Poland to many other countries, I really hope we are coming back in the right way. I hope we will be a bright star of Europe.”

Promoters
The Follow The Step debacle, which erupted in early August, has had major consequences across the Polish business. In addition to the two cancelled festivals, there have been debts unpaid, many tickets unrefunded, and outstanding concerts taken on, in some cases, by other promoters and venues.

“They did a lot of wonderful shows. I went to FEST Festival several times, and it was a really great festival”

Initial reports of bankruptcy turned in September to talk of “restructuring”, with FEST Festival ticketholders contacted and invited to accept free future tickets in lieu of refunds. FEST president Marcin Szymanowski said in October that the festival will be sold to a new investor if the restructuring can be settled, though no further updates have yet been announced.

One sad aspect of the Follow The Step collapse – which Szymanowski attributed to extremely soft sales of On Air and FEST Festival tickets, combined with crippling production costs – is that the promoter in many respects represented an ambitious and energetic face of the Polish scene.

As well as the much-admired FEST and other festivals, it staged 100 international headline shows per year for artists including Alan Walker, Avril Lavigne, Melody Gardot, Hardwell, Robert Glasper, Boris Brejcha, Rise Against, and Denzel Curry – though clearly there were flaws in the model, and the market may bear the scars.

“It damages Poland because they over-offered for so many artists. If an artist usually gets around €10,000 in Czechia or Austria, for example, they would offer 15k or even 20k in some cases,” says Charm Music Poland promoter Weronika Tomkowska, who is also quick to give Follow The Step credit for a commendable booking policy.

“They did a lot of wonderful shows. I went to FEST Festival several times, and it was a really great festival. It’s a real pity that it’s happened. But I know several people that worked [at Follow The Step] – all wonderful people – and there was a kind of a [standing] joke that they were constantly losing money on a sold-out show. So, the agents are now used to the fees that Follow The Step offered, and other promoters don’t really have a fighting chance.”

“There were 11 stadium shows in two months, all sold out, and the rest of the industry still worked well”

The evidence of a busy summer suggests that damage to consumer confidence, at least, is unlikely to be permanent. The Live Nation stadium roadshow that did such good business across Europe this summer came to Poland in force, with two Beyoncé shows, plus Imagine Dragons, The Weeknd, Depeche Mode, P!nk, Harry Styles, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, all at Warsaw’s PGE Narodowy Stadium.

Live Nation has operated in Poland for many years, with Steven Todd, managing director, Central and Eastern Europe, at the helm since 2014. In spite of its heavy megastar calendar, Live Nation’s Polish business is broad; in 2019, it acquired Poznań-based promoter Go Ahead, the country’s leading promoter of club shows, and now stages numerous smaller shows for both international and domestic artists.

And while blockbuster shows clearly drew a great deal of money out of the gig-goer’s pocket in 2023, local promoters are satisfied at how well the broader ecosystem held up. “There were 11 stadium shows in two months, all sold out,” says Ziółkowski, “and the rest of the industry still worked well. Our attendance in 2023 at Open’er was the same as in 2019, with completely different ticket prices. We knew 2023 wouldn’t be easy, and we were happy to get the result we got.”

As well as its festival business, Alter Art promotes headline shows – including, most prominently, three Taylor Swifts at PGE Narodowy Stadium on the first three nights of August next year.

“We sold out three National Stadium shows, which is a record,” says Ziółkowski. “And our other headline arenas and clubs – because we go from small clubs to stadiums – is looking very good, as are our family entertainment shows. We are maintaining our numbers; we have got a lot of shows going on.”

“Our approach is characterised by thoughtful planning, a focus on the long term, and a commitment to avoiding hasty decisions”

FKP Scorpio Poland is a big player taking things carefully in Poland. Under Warsaw-born Potocki, who also heads FKP Austria, it will next year bring Ed Sheeran to the Polsat Plus Arena in Gdańsk for two nights, though typically its shows, while numerous, are generally more modest.

“We have deliberately pursued a strategy of gradual and consistent growth in the number of events we organise,” says Potocki. “Our approach is characterised by thoughtful planning, a focus on the long term, and a commitment to avoiding hasty decisions. Looking ahead, we anticipate a substantial boost in our market presence next year.”

Among FKP’s Polish shows this year were Irish rockers Inhaler and YouTube-powered Hungarian stars Peter Bence and Azahriah, with British comic Bill Bailey and Finnish stand-up ISMO coming in the new year.

“This year marked a successful foray into organising not just musical events but also comedy shows,” says Potocki. “We are pleased to observe a growing interest in Poland for events tailored to individuals who are at ease with the English language.”

Good Taste Production mixes a connoisseur’s appreciation of jazz – having put on Bobby McFerrin, Pat Metheny, Jacob Collier and others in recent years – with international stars such as Jack Savoretti and Jamiroquai, plus a lot of Polish talent.

“We have 30 arena shows announced for domestic acts like Mrozu, Daria Zawiałow, Kwiat Jabłoni, and Ralph Kaminski”

“We do have lots of domestic acts,” says Kordek. “In fact, we have 30 arena shows announced for domestic acts like Mrozu, Daria Zawiałow, Kwiat Jabłoni, and Ralph Kaminski. Last year, we were doing club tours with these artists, and then we put them on our Summer Sounds project, our travelling festival, and now we have announced arena tours for spring, and they are selling pretty well – like, 80% sold out in some cases.”

While international artists may initially have been spooked by the nearby war, there are suggestions that efforts to reroute around the conflict may be benefiting the Polish market.

“Before, most tours went to Germany and Czechia, then Ukraine and Russia, and then to the Baltics,” says Kordek. “And now, suddenly, artists that didn’t intend to stop in Poland have to cross Poland, and when you have 800 kilometres to cross, it’s actually reasonable to give it a try.

And then you stop by, and it works.” To establish exactly what the Polish market is capable of, Kordek suggests it is important for promoters to try different things and establish new circuits.

“We have a very different strategy to other promoters,” she says. “We have more smaller projects, but we cover the whole of Poland. Most of the promoters do tours, but it’s Warsaw, Poznań, Kraków. We might offer 20 shows, because Poland is quite big, and we don’t have many mid-size venues – we have 1,000-cap clubs and then you have arenas. So, for artists that are more like 2,000-cap or 3,000-cap, it can be better to do a small tour. You can actually go to the fan base, and it just works better.”

“We did several shows on Progresja’s Summer Stage. It’s kind of the only outdoor space in Warsaw… that offers this kind of festival vibe”

Charm Music, an offshoot of Turkish promoter Charmenko, has run in Poland since 2009 and has recently promoted Eros Ramazzotti at the Atlas Arena in Łódź, as well as artists including Alt-J and Foals, with, as yet unspecified plans for a couple of stadium shows next year.

“We’ve got a bit more into outdoor shows as a promoting agency. We did several shows on Progresja’s Summer Stage,” says Tomkowska, referring to the 9,000-cap outdoor stage erected by the nearby Progresja club in Wola on the west side of Warsaw. “It’s kind of the only outdoor space in Warsaw in the capital city that offers this kind of festival vibe.”

Kraków’s DM Agency, meanwhile, scored a coup with its stadium tour for local artist Sanah in August and September, which stopped at the Silesian Stadium, Chorzów, the Polsat Plus Arena in Gdańsk and, finally, PGE Narodowy in Warsaw, where she became the first Polish female star to sell out the venue, with 70,000 in attendance. Also on DM’s books as the year wrapped up were a show for Bryan Adams at Arena Gliwice and one for veteran local metallers TSA at Spodek Katowice.

Among other promoters in Poland are Prestige MJM, which has a busy 2024 in sight, including the Pet Shop Boys, Dave Matthews Band, and Andrea Bocelli in Warsaw.

Knock Out Productions specialises in rock and metal and is one of the promoters of Gdańsk’s Mystic Festival and B90 Club. Knock Out also promotes indoor arena shows together with B90’s Arkadiusz Hronowski, who notes the rise and rise of domestic music within Poland’s own borders.

“The Polish music scene is doing well. But it is a closed camp, because apart from a few bands, most of them are unknown outside Poland”

“The Polish music scene is doing well,” says Hronowski. “But it is a closed camp, because apart from a few bands, most of them are unknown outside Poland. Most of the fans come in droves to concerts, both club and indoor and recently even stadiums. The biggest problem of the Polish scene is going outside of Poland. I think that many of them dream of a career outside, but they are not ready to go out of their safe bubble because they know that often the mission is impossible. [Gdańsk-born extreme metal band] Behemoth is an example that you can achieve success all over the world.”

Festivals
The 20th anniversary of Poland’s biggest festival, Open’er, took place between 28 June and 1 July 2023, at its usual home of Gdynia-Kosakowo Airport on Poland’s Baltic coast, with more than 110,000 attendees and a lineup Ziółkowski remains enthusiastic about, including Arctic Monkeys, Lizzo, Lil Nas X, SZA, and Kendrick Lamar, plus Labrinth, Caroline Polachek, Rina Sawayama, Queens of the Stone Age and others.

Part way through the 2024 booking process, and with Foo Fighters and Dua Lipa already announced, Ziółkowski is pleased again. “After a few months of work and dealing with the headliners and the artists, it’s looking positive,” he says.

In a nation of independent festivals, alternative beacon OFF Festival in Katowice is more independent than most. Founded by musician Artur Rojek and wife Anka in 2006, OFF has been described as “one of the best-curated festival experiences in Europe” and Artur can reflect on a successful 2023 against a turbulent backdrop.

“This was the first post-pandemic edition without rolled-up sales like we had in 2022, when we had an audience with tickets bought before the pandemic and with tickets bought after,” he says. “Additionally, this year, the festival industry was hit by a crisis. Most festivals in Poland had a decline of around 30-40%. Fortunately, it didn’t hurt us that much. We had almost a full audience, and great shows by Pusha T, King Krule, Confidence Man, and Tamino. Due to the fact that the lineup included artists such as Homixide Gang and Lancey Foux, there were also more young people.”

“No other promoter is doing festivals on this scale in such a way, so we don’t really have any competitors in this field”

And even if festivals have had a bumpy year or two, plenty of promoters have further festival ambitions, Charm Music Poland among them. “Definitely. I mean, the place that FEST Festival used was amazing,” says Tomkowska. “It was this huge, beautiful park in Silesia [Silesian Park in Chorzów, near Katowice], and I think it has a huge potential. And if someone doesn’t just jump in and take over, it’s going to be a waste.”

Good Taste Production has a different take on festivals to most, with a stable of ten smaller events. “All of them except one are up to 5,000 capacity,” says 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 the venerable Jarocin rock festival near Poznań, the boutique, experience-focused Salt Wave on Hel Peninsula (which separates the Bay of Puck from the Baltic Sea), and the travelling Letnie Brzmienia [Summer Sounds] festival.

“It has Polish arena-level headliners – eight slots per day – and we’ve played in nine cities,” says 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.”

In Łódź, musician and producer Maciej Werk organises the long-running Soundedit, the International Festival of Music Producers and Sound Designers, which this November drew 700 people to the city for workshops and shows by the Sisters of Mercy and Hania Rani at the city’s Wytwórnia Club.

“We have now got to the point where it’s so saturated that it’s become quite hard to sell out an event, which was previously an achievable goal”

“Łódź is a musical city,” says Werk. “At the beginning of the 1990s, end of the 80s, there were a couple of scenes that started to develop in Poland, and Łódź was really good: electronic, post-industrial, gothic – these types of genres. The local artists are very strong.”

Venues
While some note the Warsaw-centric nature of the Polish live business, the odd fact is that, of all the active larger arenas in Poland – from the largest (the 22,000-capacity Tauron Arena in Kraków) to the newest (the state-of-the-art Arena Gliwice in Upper Silesia, which opened in 2018) – none of them are in the capital.

Mikołaj Ziółkowski, for one, hopes that the likely new ruling coalition has a few ideas on that score. “We need a new big arena in Poland,” he says. “In Warsaw, there is no proper 20k arena. As you can imagine, that would give us a lot of opportunities, so I hope that is something the new government will look at pretty quickly.”

Arena Gliwice, located near Katowice in southern Poland’s industrial heartland, has been visited by 350,000 people in 2023, between shows and sporting events and corporate functions. The 13,752-seat main arena, which can scale up to 17,178 spectators, has become a frequent stop on international tours, though Kozioł notes the challenges of the market.

“The market in Poland is continuously growing,” says Kozioł. “We have now got to the point where it’s so saturated that it’s become quite hard to sell out an event, which was previously an achievable goal.

“The post-Covid market in Poland is a bit different now. People are buying tickets last moment, sometimes even the same day”

“Predicting the total cost of events in advance is still a challenge given the changing prices of energy and labour costs. We’ve also seen a shift when it comes to marketing events. Strategies that were effective last year aren’t producing the same results this year, which means that we have to look for new ways of reaching our audiences.”

The largest arena in Poland is the 22,000-capacity Tauron Arena Kraków, which opened in 2014 and hosts a wide range of sport, as well as taking the pick of the touring international shows, with recent visitors including Harry Styles, Alicia Keys, The Cure, Backstreet Boys, Alan Walker, and Pearl Jam, as well as Louis Tomlinson, whose concert was originally intended to be a Follow The Step event.

“The agency went bankrupt, and we were wondering what would happen with Louis Tomlinson’s concert at our venue,” says Tauron Arena’s Łukasz Pytko. “Fortunately, another agency took over the organisation, and finally, the artist played here in September.”

For its tenth birthday next year, the venue will promote a large concert of its own for the first time in its Main Arena. And while events are still numerous – around 380 last year, and a similar number this year – Pytko notes that the mechanics of the market have shifted.

“The post-Covid market in Poland is a bit different now,” he says. “People are buying tickets last moment, sometimes even the same day.”

“We will be hosting some of the most legendary names in the music industry, like Depeche Mode, Niall Horan, Rod Stewart, Sting…”

The 13,805-capacity Atlas Arena in the central city of Łódź – Poland’s third-largest city – is the second-biggest indoor arena in the country and has seen Avril Lavigne, Scorpions, 50 Cent, and Il Divo this year.

“Our undoubted advantage is our location in central Poland, an hour’s drive from Warsaw by highway,” says vice president Maciej Łaski. “Łódź is experiencing significant development in infrastructure and urban renewal, and new investments in public transport, including the modernisation of tram lines and road networks, are enhancing connectivity.”

Next year, Atlas Arena will celebrate its 15th anniversary. “We will be hosting some of the most legendary names in the music industry, like Depeche Mode, Niall Horan, Rod Stewart, Sting, Within Temptation, Architects, Alessandro Safina, and André Rieu, and we expect more big announcements in the coming months,” says Łaski. “The family entertainment segment is also doing very well in Atlas Arena, and we have announced some great Polish stars with very ambitious music productions.”

In Katowice, the Spodek Arena, built in 1971, was the largest indoor venue in Poland until the arrival of the Tauron, but it remains well frequented, with international volleyball, the prog-focused Summer Fog Festival and a visit from Megadeth all taking place this year.

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Polish promoter Follow The Step has initiated restructuring proceedings after its flagship festival, Fest Festival, filed for bankruptcy last month.

Restructuring is usually the first stage in the process of agreeing a way forward with creditors in order to manage repayment of the debt, without the client becoming insolvent.

“This procedure is aimed at obtaining approval of the arrangement that will enable us to settle our liabilities,” reads a statement from the Warsaw-based company.

“We would also like to inform you that Follow The Step is temporarily suspending its participation in the organisation of all upcoming events.”

The statement goes on to say the company has made “intensive efforts to re-organise upcoming events so that you will still have the opportunity to participate”.

Concerts with Louis Tomlinson, Gorgon City, I AM Hardstyle, Boris Brejcha, Dimension, Chase & Status, Sub Focus, T78 and Illenium have been passed over to other promoters.

“We will provide detailed information about the fate of individual events as soon as possible on Facebook pages dedicated to these events and in direct e-mails sent to ticket buyers,” it continues.

“Follow The Step is temporarily suspending its participation in the organisation of all upcoming events”

Fest Festival, one of the fastest-growing music festivals in eastern Europe, filed for bankruptcy after selling only 50% of its tickets for the 2023 edition.

The fourth edition of the Follow The Step-promoted event was due to take place between 9–13 August at Silesia Park in Chorzów, near Katowice, with acts including The Chemical Brothers, Peggy Gou and Kasabian.

The festival was faced with a number of financial challenges in its four-year existence due to the Covid-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion in neighbouring Ukraine.

Its cancellation came two months after the Polish promoter cancelled the second edition of its Warsaw festival, On Air.

Follow The Step was launched in 2015 by Maciej Korczak and Marcin Szymanowski. The agency owns two music venues (Smolna and Praga Centrum) and seven festivals (World Wide Warsaw, Made in WWA, Summer Contrast, FEST Festival, On Air Festival, and Undercity) and organises over 100 international headline shows per year.

IQ has reached out to Follow The Step for comment.

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Fest Festival, one of the fastest-growing music festivals in eastern Europe, has filed for bankruptcy after selling only 50% of its tickets for the 2023 edition.

The fourth edition of the Follow The Step-promoted event was due to take place this weekend (9–13 August) at Silesia Park in Chorzów, near Katowice, with acts including The Chemical Brothers, Peggy Gou and Kasabian.

Today’s announcement comes two months after the Polish promoter cancelled the second edition of its Warsaw festival, On Air.

In a statement published on Fest Festival‘s website, organisers said today is “the most painful day in the history of Fest Festival”.

“Our festival was in a phase of dynamic growth, with attendance increasing by over 30% each year,” reads the statement. “Such dynamic development led us to believe that this year would be just as successful. However, despite the tremendous support from many of our partners and sponsors, this year’s crisis in the event and entertainment industry significantly reduced ticket sales, making our projections incorrect.

“Despite tremendous support, this year’s crisis in the industry significantly reduced sales, making our projections incorrect”

“In the last few weeks, we have done everything in our power to cope with this new situation. We used all available funds for event organisation and the necessary preparations. Over the past months, we held discussions with public institutions, sponsors, and funds to secure additional funding for this year’s edition. We reduced costs and diversified promotional channels. Unfortunately, none of these actions yielded the expected results or secured the finances for the upcoming event. We fought with all our might until the last moment. ”

The first edition of Fest Festival took place in 2019 and drew 16,000 people each day, placing the festival among the largest music events in Poland. Organisers called it “the most challenging period in our country’s history to launch a new festival initiative”.

“Any new project of this kind requires several years to reach profitability,” continues the statement. “In our case, the previous editions of the festival were funded from ongoing operations, contributions from the owners, and loans from external companies. Despite four years of efforts, the project did not receive sufficient support from public entities, which significantly complicated its organisation.”

In 2020, Follow The Step was forced to cancel the second edition due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2021, Fest Festival was permitted to go ahead at full capacity but under strict Covid-19 rules. With 35,000 festivalgoers over four days, it was the biggest event in Poland in 2021.

The following year was just as challenging due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Poland’s neighbouring country, which saw “a massive hike in inflation and a twofold increase in costs, putting the festival in an exceptionally challenging situation”.

“We are forced to initiate bankruptcy proceedings, which prevents the company from making any payments at the moment”

“We managed to overcome last year’s problems, but 2023 painfully verified our plans – in mid-June, the 30% sales growth trend of tickets reversed, resulting in lower sales compared to the previous edition of Fest. Other issues did not help either – a further significant increase in event organisation costs due to inflation, exceptionally strict “upfront” payment conditions for subcontractors and artists, the international crisis, lack of expected support from the province, and a delay of 5 days in handing over the event site.”

Warsaw-based Follow The Step says Fest Festival 2023 ticketholders will be contacted about the refund process but adds that “in the current situation, we are forced to initiate bankruptcy proceedings, which prevents the company from making any payments at the moment. This is the only way for us to settle the organisation of the festival.”

Other festivals that will not take place in 2023 include Falls Festival (Australia), Rolling Loud (US), Summerburst (Sweden), Hills of Rock (Bulgaria), InMusic (Croatia), Wireless Germany, Hear Hear (Belgium) and Tempelhof Sounds and Tempelhof Sounds Presents (Germany).

Follow The Step was launched in 2015 by Maciej Korczak and Marcin Szymanowski. The agency owns two music venues (Smolna and Praga Centrum) and seven festivals (World Wide Warsaw, Made in WWA, Summer Contrast, FEST Festival, On Air Festival, and Undercity) and organises over 100 international headline shows per year.

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Poland is to stage Eastern Europe’s first K-pop stadium concert.

Korea Management Federation (KMF), which represents upwards of 350 Korean entertainment agencies and labels, has announced K-pop Nation x Korea Music Festival will take place at Warsaw’s PGE Narodowy Stadium on 23 September.

The stadium can scale its capacity up to 72,900 for concerts. No acts have been announced as of yet but the Korea Herald reports eight K-pop acts are expected to perform at the event, which is being organised by SSD Media and Good Taste Production, in partnership with PGE Narodowy and Eventim.

“We will show the essence of an authentic K-pop concert to foreign K-pop fans,” says KMF chair Yoo Jae-Woong. “Starting with Kpop Nation, we want to host K-pop concerts overseas regularly. We are also currently planning diverse projects to support K-pop rookies in expanding their reach to foreign markets.”

Poland is also set to host the three-day K-pop Stars Festival at Warsaw Babice Airport from 7-9 July

Poland is also set to host the three-day K-pop Stars Festival at Warsaw Babice Airport from 7-9 July. Acts will include SF9, AB6IX, Oneus, Epik High, CL Kang Daniel and Viviz. Local cover bands will perform before the concerts.

Throughout the event there will be attractions such as a Korean Festival Town within the site, traditional food, e-sports and a “K-Beauty zone”. Day tickets start at 420 zloty (€94), with three-day tickets available from 950 zloty (€213).

Europe’s first K-pop festival, the 44,000-cap Kpop.Flex, staged by K-Pop Europa in partnership with PK Events and Korean broadcaster SBS Television Network, debuted at Frankfurt’s Deutsche Bank Park in May 2022. It returns to Germany this weekend and will launch in the UK from 22-24 September at The O2 in London.

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Follow the Step co-founder Maciej Korczak has spoken to IQ about the challenging but rewarding launch of new festival On Air.

The inaugural edition took place last weekend in Warsaw and was the Polish promoter’s first outdoor festival in the capital city.

The two-day event debuted at the 70,000-capacity Bemowo Airport, which has hosted concerts from the likes of Madonna and Metallica, as well as three editions of Sonisphere festival between 2010 and 2012.

On Air, meanwhile, saw artists including Tame Impala, Jorja Smith, Celeste and The Kooks perform across two stages at the airport.

“Our main goal is to book A-list artists,” says Korczak. “We are really proud of the line-up – hosting such artists at the first edition of the festival is a dream.

“On Air was already hailed by people and the media as one of the best festivals in Warsaw and Poland.”

“We are really proud of the line-up – hosting such artists at the first edition of the festival is a dream”

Even with a star-studded lineup, a myriad of external issues meant that Follow the Step didn’t sell as many tickets as it hoped for the inaugural edition.

High inflation and a saturated market were key obstacles for the festival, alongside a less-than-ideal weather forecast for the weekend.

“Launching a new festival is never easy, especially in the post-pandemic times,” says Korczak. “The biggest challenge that we faced was that On Air took place at the very end of the festival season and a lot of fans already used their festival budget.

“Normally it wouldn’t be a problem as it’s actually a good time for organising a festival in the capital – people are coming back from holidays and students to the universities – but this year because of the high inflation and because of many festivals and events being moved to this summer due to the pandemic, it meant that tickets were harder to sell this year.

“We also had to allocate a significant portion of the budget to raise awareness among people about the existence of the festival and break through the noise about other summer events that already had their fanbase.”

With that said, Follow the Step has already announced the second edition of the festival, set to take place on 8 and 9 September 2023 at the same location.

In addition to On Air, the Warsaw-based festival and concert agency promoter organises marquee event Fest Festival, based in Chorzów, which this year marked a record attendance.

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Fest Festival welcomed 50,000 attendees over four days for this year’s edition, marking a record attendance for the Polish festival.

The third annual event, promoted by Warsaw-based promoter Follow The Step, took place between 10 and 13 August at Chorzów’s Silesia Park – the largest park in Europe.

The Chainsmokers, Rudimental, Nothing But Thieves, Rüfüs du Sol, James Arthur and Jungle were among the 200 artists performing across 11 stages during Fest.

“The third edition of Fest Festival came to an end and was hailed by festivalgoers and media as the most beautiful festival this summer in Poland,” says a spokesperson from Follow The Step.

The Chainsmokers, Rudimental and Nothing But Thieves were among the 200 artists performing across 11 stages

“During the whole festival, we gathered almost 50,000 attendees – a record attendance for Fest – and the festival ran continuously for 120 hours.

“Fest Festival means way more than an exceptional music celebration. The festival town plays a special role that encourages festivalgoers to take the most from its attractions such as artistic performances, social campaigns and workshops.”

Unlike the vast majority of European festivals, Fest Festival was able to go ahead last year, with 35,000 Covid-19-vaccinated concertgoers. The 2021 edition was the largest event to take place in Poland that year.

Follow The Step continues its festival season with On Air, slated to take place on 9 and 10 September in Warsaw.

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Follow the Step has revealed details of its new On Air Festival in Warsaw.

Tame Impala, Jorja Smith and Celeste will top the bill at the debut edition, which will take place at the 25,000-cap Bemowo Airport from 9-10 September.

The Polish agency describes the event as a mixture of Lovebox and Lollapalooza festivals, transferred to Warsaw, with top quality production and an atmosphere heralding the end of summer.

The first wave of acts  announced also includes The Comet is Coming, Tash Sultana, Alexandra Savior, Ralph Kamiński and Baasch.

Warsaw’s Bemowo Airport has previously hosted superstar acts such as Madonna and Metallica

Warsaw’s Bemowo Airport has previously hosted superstar acts such as Madonna and Metallica.

The area will be decorated with colourful installations and decorations designed for On Air, while the festival city will also include chillout zones, bars, food trucks and other attractions.

Early bird tickets are on sale at 89 PLN (€84) for a two-day season ticket and 249 PLN €54 for a one-day pass.

Follow the Step also organises Fest Festival, which welcomed 35,000 attendees over four days for last year’s edition, making it the biggest event in Poland in 2021.

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Last weekend, German DJ Boris Brejcha played the biggest concert Poland has seen since the outbreak of Covid at the beginning of 2020.

Ten thousand fans gathered in Poland’s largest and best-preserved fortress, in Modlin, located northwest of Warsaw, last Friday (25 June) to enjoy Brejcha’s set.

According to the promoters, Follow the Step, the enormous structure (pictured) was created by specialists especially for the event and was months in the making.

“This was the first production of this type in this part of Europe and thanks to the huge amount of technology, lights and the latest generation sound system, provided an amazing experience,” according to a press release.

Entry was restricted to doubly vaccinated residents, as per government guidelines, all of whom were required to show proof of vaccination.

“Finally after one and a half years we could put our plans into action and get back to organising events on the big scale,” Follow the Step’s Tamara Przystasz tells IQ.

“Not only was it quite a challenge organising it in such a way that will comply with all the new rules and restrictions, but it was also the first event that we could organise for vaccinated people only. However, it was amazing to see 10,000 people celebrating the comeback of music events.”

Maciej Korczak, owner of FTS, added: “The Boris Brejcha show was a huge step forward not only for our company but also for the whole event and music industry in our country. We like to pave the way here as we believe that nothing is impossible.”

“It quite a challenge organising it in such a way that will comply with all the new rules and restrictions”

“The show was just a warm-up for us before Fest Festival this summer which will take place on the 11-14 of August in Chorzów. But after what we managed to do with Boris show we are now sure that we are able to organise Fest Festival this summer for 40,000 people safely.”

Earlier this month, Follow the Step was given permission to hold multi-genre event Fest Festival without any capacity limits, provided that attendees have had their Covid-19 vaccinations.

During a press conference, the Polish minister of health confirmed the information that people vaccinated against Covid-19 do not count towards the established limits applicable during mass events.

The event is scheduled to happen 11–14 August in Chorzów and organisers have so far confirmed acts such as Kygo, James Bay, Rag’n’Bone Man and Alan Walker on the bill.

Alongside Poland, mega concerts with 10,000 people or more have recently returned to China, the US and Israel, while France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Austria and the UK have set a date this summer for the resumption of large, non-socially distanced shows.

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Poland’s National Stadium, PGE Narodowy in Warsaw, is being converted into a temporary hospital to accommodate more Covid-19 patients.

The 58,500-capacity stadium will initially have room for 500 beds and will be equipped with oxygen therapy, said head of the chancellery for the prime minister, Michał Dworczyk, during a press conference yesterday (19 October).

The hospital will provide care for the residents of Warsaw and also Mazovia. According to Dworczyk, the hospital, which will be a branch of the Central Clinical Hospital of the Ministry of Interior and Administration, will be the first in a series of such facilities in Poland.

“We can see that the pandemic is dangerous and progressive. We want to transfer the experience gained by the Central Clinical Hospital of the Ministry of Interior and Administration to the already designed temporary hospital. In the hospital, patients will have access to all the most important tests,” said Dworczyk.

“We want to transfer the experience gained by the Central Clinical Hospital to the already designed temporary hospital”

PGE Narodowy is the largest association football arena in the country and is the home of Poland’s national football team.

The stadium will close to visitors from 19 October when preparations for the temporary hospital will begin.

Poland has experienced relatively low rates of infection throughout the pandemic but is now dealing with an exponential surge of cases. Last weekend, the country reached its highest daily rate for new cases, recording 9,622 on Saturday (17 October).

The government has responded to the surge last week, announcing a series of measures in Warsaw and other major cities now considered “red zones” where it’s mandatory to wear masks in the street.

Restaurants have been forced to close at 9 pm local time, wedding ceremonies are banned, and the number of people allowed in shops, public transport and religious services is limited. All high schools and faculties located in these zones are closed and are conducting remote teaching.

PGE Narodowy is one of the many venues across the world which have been repurposed as a field hospital or Covid-19 test centre during the pandemic.

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