Pol'and'Rock or simply Woodstock!

What?! Woodstock in Poland?

I kid you not. There is a Woodstock festival in Poland. It was called Przystanek Woodstock, to be perfectly accurate (welcome to Poland! There are no easy names; everything has got to have those rustling sounds in it! ). To be even more precise, this festival is now called Pol’and’Rock, but for everyone who knows it, it will remain just Woodstock, or simply Wood. And this is a wicked event! It has been organised every year without a break for 24 years now. Oh, I almost forgot to mention: it’s absolutely for free! Just come to Kostrzyn to see it yourself! (Told you about the names).

Line up

I can see you rising you eyebrows, thinking "you get what you pay for, and if you pay nothing this means that the festival is crap". Well, sorry to say that, but this is absolutely wrong!

Over the years during the festival you have had loads of really big names like Manu Chao, Shaggy, Inner Circle, The Prodigy, Modestep, Type O Negative, Dream Theatre, Machine Head, The Analogs, Anthrax, Leningrad, Ska-P, Black Label Society, Within Temptation, Bring Me The Horizon, Apocalyptica, House of Pain, Archive, Amon Amarth and many others.

Alongside the big international names, you’ve got top notch Polish artists who are truly world class and can organise mesmerizingly beautiful or simply brilliant shows.

But there is more to that, and it may surprise you, but this is one of the very few festivals worldwide where you go more for the vibe of the place than for the line-up.

Celebration of freedom - place made by people

1. Be who you want to be

   One of the best things about this place is that it doesn’t matter who you are, what you look like, and what you do in your everyday life. You’re here to have fun and to make the most of the festival, regardless whether you’re homeless or drove here in a Mercedes-Benz. This ‘be-who-you-want-to-be’ atmosphere is felt throughout the grounds of the festival. If you wanted to be Jack Sparrow for three days - be it. If you want to flaunt across fields in a wedding dress - then do it. If you want to be dressed up as a banana, monkey, Darth Vader, doctor or whoever else you fancy looking like - there’s no one here to stop you. Spiky hair, piercings, tatooes, favourite bands t-shirts whatever - nobody cares what you look like, and if they do usually it is in an overwhelmingly friendly manner.

   

2. Build your village

   This is a festival largely characterised by its camping site and the camping culture accounts equally much to the overall legend of the place as the music. The grounds are huge and very much surrounded by the forests. The camping site is basically... everywhere. Of course it would be utterly stupid to put up your tent in front of the main stage, but if you fancy doing that... it’s up to you. Just don’t blame me for the crowds marching on your wigwam. Those the most dedicated arrive here few days before the festival starts and start building their ‘villages’ (in Polish, ‘wioska’). There are some who come over every year, and each time they are more or less in the same spot, amongst those it is worth mentioning my hometown folks tirelessly building ‘wioska toruń’ on every Woodstock edition. Some people take camping here to the whole new level. My favourites are the shenanigans who every year build their wioska near the main stage. Their imagination is beyond brilliant, as once they build a huge gazebo in a shape of the Star Wars legendary Millenium Falcon. Not only was it really crafty, but also incredibly practical. The shadow made by ‘the spacecraft’ was priceless when the August heat hits the Pol’and’Rock grounds. By no means these guys are not the only ones I’ve seen with incredible inventiveness. Once I passed by a village called ‘Narnia’, where to enter it one had to go through a real wardrobe, brought probably from one of their houses! The other time, some guys that absolutely stole my heart. It was two of them, slightly older gentlemen, who came to the campsite with a 4x4 black SUV, put a rag on its roof, took of their shirts and sunbathed to the sounds of the music from the stage behind them. The most accurate definition of ‘not a single f**k given’ I have ever encountered in my entire life.

3. Enjoy your freedom

   That’s the basic rule and privilege of this place. You can do what you want, where you want, and how you want. Honestly. And don’t get me wrong. If such statement means for you that the festival promotes drugs and alcohol, if it means that one can be obscene, aggressive or simply rude, then well, you have no idea what freedom is all about and there is no point for me to waste the time to explain the old truth of ‘my liberty ends where yours begins’.

4. No matter who you believe in, what you believe in, you are welcome!

   I know Poland is largely deemed a conservative, religious and Catholic country. It is not far from truth, but Przystanek Woodstock shows you a more accurate picture of what people are like in here. Many church-affiliated organisations have tried to protest (and even block) the organisation of the festival. Some launched an alternative gathering called Przystanek Jezus, and this is where the Pol’and’Rock organisers have shown the highest class and humanity. Instead of fighting off the opposition, they embraced them and welcomed everyone involved in the Catholic party. They also allow some organisations like Hare Krishna to have their own stalls. And to be honest I had some of the best parties in their tent, disregarding any religious content. This is simply the spirit of the festival.

5. Not only one stage, not only music

   This is a huge festival. In some years the number of people who attended it easily exceeded 500 000. Logically, then there is more to it that only one stage with music. In fact, you’ve got three different stages playing brilliant music at all times, all of them equally crowded. Luckily, it’s easy to find your way around, even though the grounds are massive. It’s harder to be on time on gigs simply because there are so many different people around you and you’re busy getting to know them or simply partying. But there’s more than concerts and the flood of new Facebook friends. There is also a separate stage where you can see a theatre play of one of the leading Polish theatres or to see a live interview with some of the most impressive people, from actors to politicians. These personalities attract really big crowds, and listening to them is a real pleasure.

6. Not for the fainthearted

   There is one thing you have to mentally ready for when coming to Woodstock - it is not really the best place for sophisticated outfits and the trendy fashion. To say the least. You’d rather take some of your old clothes and shoes with you, be ready not to take a shower for a night or two, and if you do take one... Well, it will be freezing cold (unless you’d prefer to have hot water then you can queue for hours to get to these facilities. It’s better and cheaper to buy another beer though). Also if you’re addicted to your phone then I’d say you better test your resilience and leave it for three days in a safe space. And go wild with the flow of the festival!

7. Simple rules and basic manners

   As mentioned earlier, it doesn’t take much to fully enjoy the freedom and fun that Przystanek Woodstock offers, the only thing one needs is just some basic manners.

• Try not to litter - I know the place might seem incredibly dirty anyway, but its grounds are a reserve and environment for many animals on other days than the festival;
• Be kind - there is no need to be rude and being off your tits is not the excuse good enough to be an asshole;
• Remember to take back with you the stuff you used to build your wioska;
• Have fun - after all, this is why you’re here.

So how is this possible?!

All credit must go to one incredible guy called Jerzy Owsiak and the charity organisation he’s been tirelessly running against all odds for more than 25 years! He’s become famous as a fundraiser for the equipment in Polish hospitals and it is very much likely that some of your Polish friends are still alive thanks to his work. Being a really colourful and non-compromising person as Mr. Owsiak is, he has been going through various political turmoils, but nothing could diminish the incredible work he’s done not only for the patients, but also for the polish society as a whole!

Woodstock - hell yeah!

There is nothing left to say...