OFF Festival is an alternative

music festival A music festival is a community event with performances of singing and instrument playing that is often presented with a theme such as musical genre (e.g., rock, blues, folk, jazz, classical music), nationality, locality of musicians, or ho ...

series held annually since 2006. Until 2009 it was held at Słupna Park in

Mysłowice Mysłowice ( szl, Myslowicy; german: Myslowitz) is a city in Silesia in southern Poland, near Katowice. The population of the city is 74,085. It is located in the south district of the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union in the Silesian Highlan ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

in August and lasts four days. OFF Festival from 2010 takes place in

Katowice Katowice ( , , ; szl, Katowicy; german: Kattowitz, yi, קאַטעוויץ, Kattevitz) is the capital city of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland and the central city of the Upper Silesian metropolitan area. It is the 11th most popu ...

in Dolina Trzech Stawow. The organizer and creative director of this festival is

Artur Rojek Artur Marcin Rojek (born May 6, 1972) is the former guitarist and lead singer of the Polish alternative rock group Myslovitz.''Gazeta Wyborcza'', "Jak Artur Rojek redagował ?Gazetę?", 2006-06-29,/ref> He and the lead guitarist Wojciech Powaga ...

, former leader of the bands

Myslovitz Myslovitz is a Polish rock band. The band take their name from their industrial hometown of Mysłowice in the Upper Silesia region of southern Poland. Band history Guitarist and vocalist Artur Rojek started the band in 1992 as "The Freshmen", ...

and

Lenny Valentino Lenny Valentino was a dream pop band from Mysłowice, Poland formed in 1998. They disbanded in 2001. Lenny Valentino formed in 1998, with guitarist/vocalist Artur Rojek (of the band Myslovitz) as the primary songwriter. Mietall Waluś (bass), M ...

. In addition to the music, the OFF Festival also support a variety of independent arts and culture events, like exhibitions, workshops and movie screenings. It is also connected with promotion of volunteer programs.

History

The first edition of OFF Festival was held from 18–20 August 2006. About 11,000 people attended the three-day event with 30 bands performed on the 3 stages. OFF Festival 2009 was dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. The guest of honour was

Sub Pop Sub Pop is a record label founded in 1986 by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman. Sub Pop achieved fame in the early 1990s for signing Seattle bands such as Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Mudhoney, central players in the grunge movement. They are oft ...

boss Jonathan Poneman. The 2010 edition of Off Festival was held from 5 to 8 August in Katowice. Festival was dedicated to the celebration of 200th birthday of

Fryderyk Chopin The Fryderyk is the annual award in Polish music. Its name refers to the original Polish spelling variant of Polish composer Frédéric Chopin's first name. Its status in the Polish public can be compared to the American Grammy and the UK's ...

and filled with concerts with the main theme being 'Inspired by Chopin'.

Venues

Most of the concerts of the first four editions of the festival were held in the area of Słupna watering place, but also in Evangelical Church, Local Culture Centre and many other places in the centre of

. In 2009 there were five stages: Main Stage, Forest, Experimental, "Trójka Offensywa" and "Miasto Muzyki". From 2010 the festival is held in

Dolina Trzech Stawów Valley of Three Ponds pl, Dolina Trzech Stawów) is a large park and wooden area in the southern part of the city of Katowice Katowice ( , , ; szl, Katowicy; german: Kattowitz, yi, קאַטעוויץ, Kattevitz) is the capital city of the ...

OFF Festival Club

It is a series of club concerts started in 2008 by OFF Festival. I edition *18 December 2008 –

Deerhoof Deerhoof are an American musical group formed in San Francisco in 1994. They currently consist of founding drummer Greg Saunier, bassist and singer Satomi Matsuzaki, and guitarists John Dieterich and Ed Rodriguez. Beginning as an improvised no ...

Contemporary Noise Sextet Contemporary history, in English-language historiography, is a subset of modern history that describes the historical period from approximately 1945 to the present. Contemporary history is either a subset of the late modern period, or it i ...

Emiter ''Emiter'' (мак. Емитер) is a Macedonian Macedonian most often refers to someone or something from or related to Macedonia. Macedonian(s) may specifically refer to: People Modern * Macedonians (ethnic group), a nation and a South ...

, Kristen'' II edition *19 April 2009 – Wroclaw ''

Butthole Surfers Butthole Surfers are an American rock band formed in San Antonio, Texas, by singer Gibby Haynes and guitarist Paul Leary in 1981. The band has had numerous personnel changes, but its core lineup of Haynes, Leary, and drummer King Coffey has ...

, Materac,

Plum A plum is a fruit of some species in ''Prunus'' subg. ''Prunus'.'' Dried plums are called prunes. History Plums may have been one of the first fruits domesticated by humans. Three of the most abundantly cultivated species are not found ...

'' III edition *17 December 2009 –

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officiall ...

Monotonix Monotonix were a garage rock band from Tel Aviv, Israel. The group—singer Ami Shalev, guitarist Yonatan Gat, and drummer Ran Shimoni (later replaced by Haggai Fershtman)—released their debut EP in 2008 and toured mostly in the United States a ...

, Mitch and Mitch with Igor Krutogolov play Zelig Rabitchnyak, Bajzel'' *18 December 2009 –

, Mitch and Mitch with Igor Krutogolov play Zelig Rabitchnyak, Bajzel'' IV edition *24 March 2010 – Krakow ''

Mount Eerie Mount Eerie is the musical project of American songwriter and producer Phil Elverum. Elverum (also of The Microphones) is the principal member of the band, but has collaborated with many other musicians on his records and in live performances. ...

'', '' Chain and The Gang'', '' No Kids'' * 2 December 2010 –

at Jazz Club Hipnoza ''

Scout Niblett Emma Louise Niblett (born 29 September 1973), better known by the stage name Scout Niblett, is an English singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. Niblett debuted in 2001 with her first full-length studio album '' Sweet Heart Fever'', and ...

'', '' Cieślak i Księżniczki'', ''

Ed Wood Edward Davis Wood Jr. (October 10, 1924 – December 10, 1978) was an American filmmaker, actor, and pulp novel author. In the 1950s, Wood directed several low-budget science fiction, crime and horror films that later became cult cla ...

'' V edition *16 April 2011 –

Merzbow is a Japanese noise project started in 1979 by , best known for a style of harsh, confrontational noise. Since 1980, Akita has released over 400 recordings and has collaborated with various artists. The name Merzbow comes from the German dada ...

'', '' Zs'', ''

Kid606 Miguel Trost De Pedro (born July 27, 1979), better known by his stage name Kid606, is an electronic musician who was raised in San Diego and later moved to San Francisco. He is most closely associated with the glitch, IDM, hardcore techno and b ...

'', Niwea''

References

External links

OFF Festival Official WebsiteOFF Festival TVOFF Festival ClubDrowned in Sound review
{{coord missing, Silesian Voivodeship Music festivals in Poland Mysłowice Culture in Katowice Recurring events disestablished in 2006 2006 establishments in Poland Summer events in Poland