More than thirty thousand visitors filled Prague's Kampa, Strělecký ostrov and Janáčkovo nábřeží on Friday and Saturday. Around seventy artists from all over Europe played on nine stages, both on the islands and in the clubs Jazz Dock, Klub Famu, Rock Café, Cargo Gallery and Chapeau Rouge. This year's specialty was the connection with Europe Day, which is an annual reminder of peace and cooperation on the territory of the European continent.
"I'm glad that we were able to bring musical discoveries to Prague this year as well, so the Czech audience had a great opportunity to come to the premiere concerts of foreign stars. In addition, most of them played in the Czech Republic for the very first time," says festival producer Martin Voňka.
About seventy artists performed at this year's festival. Among them, for example, the Dutch-British band Someone, the Swedish group The Magnettes, the German Sparkling or Albertine Sarges, the Irish Enola Gay, the Hungarian Platon Karataev and the Czech artists The Valentines, Pam Rabbit, Aiko, Marjari, Baby G, Wodehn, Meizzy and Past . Up-and-coming bands from Prague 1 also got their space on the big stages, and dozens of non-profit organizations presented themselves as part of the Islands of Inspiration program. British ambassador Matt Field, economist Tomáš Sedláček, actress Eva Holubová, ČT editors Jakub Szántó and David Miřejovský, actor Jiří Lábus, historian Michal Stehlík and journalists J. X. Doležal and Filip Titlbach appeared in live podcasts and debates.
"Thank you to everyone who helped prepare this year's 20th birthday. It took a lot of effort, but we are glad that we made a lot of viewers, musicians and other actors happy. A great challenge awaits us next year, as it will be 20 years since the Czech Republic and nine other countries joined the European Union and 25 years since the Czech Republic joined NATO. We are looking forward to the next unique year," adds David Gaydečka, the second producer of the festival.
The 21st year of the United Islands of Prague festival will take place on May 3 and 4, 2024, on the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of the Czech Republic's entry into the European Union. Our country's entry into the EU was the impetus for the creation of the United Islands of Prague festival.