Heinenken Open'er Festival

HISTORY OF HEINEKEN OPEN'ER FESTIVAL

The Heineken Open'er Festival is the largest Polish open-air music and performing arts festival and definitely the most important music event in Gdynia - a city in the north of Poland at the Baltic Sea coast. It is a special place on the Polish map, where people from more than 30 countries are meeting, enjoying the best performances and having the best weekend in the year. Total area of the festival in Babie Doly airfield makes 75 hectares of space for one to explore and contains 7 stages, around 120 artists, festival town with merchandising area, gastronomic zones, camp site, beach, sea and sun, space for sports activities and multimedia, NGO, films, theaters and performances. 10 hectares are dedicated to campers – place where the true festival admirers are sleeping in their tents after the sun goes up.

The first edition of the festival (2002) was held in Warsaw and starred The Chemical Brothers. The following year, the festival was moved to Gdynia. On the main stage people saw such artists as Cassius, Kosheen and Layo & Bushwacka!

In 2004 the festival was extended to 2 days. The acts included: Cypress Hill, Pink, Goldfrapp and Massive Attack. The venue was filled with thousands of music fans, who created an amazing atmosphere. Open'er continued to attract festival goers from all over the world and provide an increasing variety of music. In 2005 the festival attracted 25 000 visitors in 2 days. The musicians who performed were Snoop Dogg, Faithless, Fatboy Slim, Lauryn Hill, The Music, The White Stripes and Underworld. On the first day the festival tickets were completely sold out.

In 2006 Heineken Open'er Festival was extended again to 3 days and took place in Babie Doly airfield for the first time. Placebo, Manu Chao, Pharell Williams, Skin, Franz Ferdinand, Sigur Rós, Scissor Sisters, The Streets, Kanye West, Basement Jaxx, Roger Sanchez were playing for thousands of festival goers. 2007 edition also had a very rich line up including Sonic Youth, The Roots, Laurent Garnier, Groove Armada, Beastie Boys, Muse, Bloc Party, Björk, LCD Soundsystem and many more.

To meet the growing crowd the festival built 7 stages in 2008 and presented more than 120 performers like Massive Attack, The Chemical Brothers, Jay-Z, Interpol, The Raconteurs, Erykah Badu, Roisin Murphy, Editors, Sex Pistols, M.I.A., Goldfrapp, The Cribs, CocoRosie, Gentleman And The Far East Band, Fischerspooner, DJ Vadim Live feat. Yarah Bravo, Fujiya & Miyagi, DeVotchKa and many more artists. Festival was visited by more than 50.000 audience every day.

Every year Open'er offers more and more attractions. This year more than 120 acts are set to play across the 7 stages with the festival expanding to four days in 2009. Some of Poland's brightest young stars will also be present. Next to the Main Stage, Tent Stage, World Stage, Young Talents Stage, Beat Stage and Alter Space new special and creative places will come into existence. Festival will surprise music lovers with impressive names again.

GETTING TO HEINEKEN OPEN'ER FESTIVAL

For more information about getting to the festival check out the official Heineken Open'er Festival website :

http://www.opener.pl/en/info/journey