Prague Metronome Festival celebrates 30 years since the Velvet Revolution

While the Czech Republic has become known for its excellent outdoor summer music festivals over the past three decades, the capital city of Prague has long lacked a comparable alternative.

Two subsequent editions of the Metronome Festival have seen international artists like Sting, Kasabian, John Cale, Tom Odell, The Chemical Brothers, and many other acts come to Prague as the fest has quickly become the city’s premiere music event.

This year, the Metronome Festival Prague will be bigger and better than ever before, taking place from Friday-Saturday June 21-22 in the friendly confines of the Holešovice Expo Center, adjacent to the city’s spacious Stromovka Park – a former hunting preserve for the Kings of Bohemia who resided in Prague.

A stacked lineup for this year’s Metronome Festival Prague includes former Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher and English trip hop band Morcheeba on Friday night, followed by Scottish rockers Primal Scream and a special 3D show by electronic music pioneers Kraftwerk on Saturday.

2019 marks exactly 30 years since the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia spelled the end of communism in the country, and to mark the date the theme of this year’s Metronome Festival in Prague will be 30 Years of Freedom.

To celebrate the anniversary, the 2019 Metronome Festival Prague will feature a special concert on Friday night by local rockers Pražský výběr, a legendary band that performed on the underground circuit throughout the 1970s before facing censorship and persecution from communist authorities and being outright banned in the 1980s.

In 1991, after the fall of the Iron Curtain, Pražský výběr performed in concert in Prague with legendary US rocker Frank Zappa; it would be one of the final concert appearances for Zappa, who passed away in 1993. Zappa was a personal friend of then-Czech President Václav Havel, who appointed him “Special Ambassador to the West on Trade, Culture and Tourism.”

On Saturday June 22, a special concert series titled Voices of Freedom will feature a variety of female Czech singers from the past 30 years, from singer Monika Načeva, who rose to fame in the years following the Velvet Revolution, up through modern artists like Bára Poláková and Emma Smetana.

Now in its fourth year, this year’s Metronome Festival in Prague promises to be bigger and better than previous editions, with an increase in the festival ground’s size to 120,000 m2 to accommodate rising attendance levels.

In addition to the main outdoor stages at the Metronome Festival Prague, this year’s fest will also include two major indoor stages, the Moon Stage and Wave Stage, which can accommodate 7,000 people and stay open through the late-late-night hours. The indoor stages will focus on electronic acts including sets from British DJ Danny Howard, German electronic duo Digitalism, and more.

And a bright note for many weary music fest veterans, this year’s Metronome Festival will feature double the number of restrooms as last year’s edition, all with new vacuum-powered toilet technology.

In line with other outdoor music festivals around the country, Prague’s Metronome Festival will also give visitors a unique summer camping opportunity: just for the festival, a portion nearby Stromovka Park will be transformed into camping grounds complete with showers and restrooms.

Of course, if you live in Prague or would rather stay in a hotel, the Metronome Festival grounds in Holešovice are a short 5-10 minute ride by taxi or public transport (tram stop: Výstaviště Holešovice) from the city center.