Such legendary 1980s rock bands as Tilt featuring Tomek Lipiński and Kryzys in the original line-up are billed to appear along with first-timers. Numerous side-line events are planned including exhibitions, multimedia projections and outdoor movie screenings.

The Jarocin festival was first held in 1980 to rapidly grow into one of the biggest and most important alternative, mainly rock, music festivals in Eastern Europe. It was often called the Polish Woodstock. Under the communist regime the festival provided an opportunity to listen to music not sanctioned by government-controlled mass media. It featured almost all leading alternative music bands. This is where the legends of Polish rock music like Dżem, TSA, Armia, Voo Voo, and Hey made their debut. The festival was suspended in 1994, but was revived two years ago. Local authorities and organizers hope it can regain its previous role as an event promoting worthy alternative culture which is given little exposure by commercial media.

MP