Trutnoff Open Air festival begins, commemorating Václav Havel’s 90th birthday

The Trutnoff Open Air music festival begins today at the Bojiště venue in Trutnov, commemorating the 90th anniversary of Václav Havel’s birth. Even as president, Havel continued to attend the festival after 1990, and the organisers declared him its chief. The festival programme will feature a variety of genres, from rock, underground and world music to alternative rock, the organisers said. The festival in Trutnov, in the foothills of the Krkonoše Mountains, will run until August 16.

“Everything will begin with an Open Air service on Thursday, August 13, at 6 p.m., dedicated to four days of peace and friendship, as well as to our chief Václav Havel, to whom this year’s gathering is dedicated,” the organisers said.

The programme also includes bands such as Lucie, The Plastic People of the Universe, Jasná Páka with David Koller and Dáda Albrecht, Pražský výběr, Ondřej Havelka and his Melody Makers orchestra, and the American band Gogol Bordello.