From 18 June to 21 August, the multi-genre UPROSTŘED festival will present dozens of open-air performances, concerts and other artistic shows, all of which will be free to attend. Held in the city centre for the 9th time, this year’s programme will take place across seven different venues and with an expanded range of events.
UPROSTŘED (‘In the centre’) aims to create a lively atmosphere in the city centre for the duration of the summer, as well as connecting the people of Brno and highlighting its communities. “One of the programme lines, for example, are the Wednesday and Sunday concerts from country to disco in the courtyard of the Old Town Hall,” explained Anežka Hanáčková from TIC BRNO, the organisers of the festival. “It focuses on local bands, who we are giving a space to perform on their home turf. This year we are also cooperating with the Josef K. Foundation, which supports JAMU graduates in their first projects.”
The Foundation and TIC BRNO jointly selected the BroPodcast Live on Air project of the newly emerging Theatre Without Stage. The original production, created especially for the festival, deals with the issue of social networks and disinformation, and will be performed at the Old Town Hall on five dates during the summer.
This year, the festival kicks off with an opening show on 18 June in the park on Moravské náměstí, organised by the Kávéeska cultural organisation, which co-organises the festival with TIC. The all-day opening programme includes musical performances, and will end with a bonfire with sausages.
“We cordially invite you not only to the unique opening, but also to the Opera UPROSTŘED, where three opera soloists will perform in the middle of the city with well-known opera arias and duets, and to the Musical UPROSTŘED, in which JAMU students under the direction of director Dod Gombár will remake old local Brno stories in their own image. This year we have added operas and musicals to the successful ballet performances from last edition,” said Tomáš Pavčík, director of Kávéeska.
Other highlights of the festival will include the ever-popular swing dance party on the terrace under Petrov, as well as novelties such as the ritual performance of ‘Ride of Kings’ with an exchange of folkloric clothing, sketches by Pavel Seriš, and the audio-walk ‘Dreams of Concrete’. The festival will closed on 21 August with the 18-piece Brno big band New Time Orchestra.
In addition to the park on Moravské náměstí and the courtyard of the Old Town Hall, the concerts will take place on Česká, namesti Svobody, Tyršuv Sad, Zelný trh and Denisovy Sady. In total, 43 events will take place over 65 days. The full programme with details is available on the event’s official website.
