Zahrada is the largest folk and world music festival in the Czech Republic and is held on the first weekend of July. The venue is the Chateau at Naměšt´na Hané, a town of 1,800 inhabitants 14km west of Olomouc. The festival is held annually and 2005 was the sixteenth.
There are four stages in various locations around the grounds of the château. The smallest was at the chapel, which is where the lesser known bands performed and competed for the peoples’ favourite award. The main stage is set within a huge amphitheatre. There were enough wooden benches for about 2000 people and the hillside behind could possibly hold another 3000. There were ample portable toilets provided and the usual range of festival food was available. Let waistlines beware the fruit-on-a-skewer covered in three kinds of chocolate! Many of the visitors to the festival slept in their tents, but it’s also easily possible to visit from Olomouc on one of the many trains or buses.
A day-pass is 370Kc and a three day pass 760Kc. That gives you access to all four venues. Performances begin around 2pm and progress well into the evening.
One of the highlights for me this year was Tolhaje, a band from just across the Polish border in the Bieszczady/Beskydy mountains. Their music is modern, something between jazz and folk, but draws on the tradition of the Lemks and Boyds, the former tribal inhabitants of the Bieszczady. The clarinet and the accordion feature strongly, but the band’s wide range of instruments also included everything from the ancient didgeridoo to the latest synthesizer. At the end of their concert, I rushed straight up and bought a CD, and the main vocalist was happy to autograph it for me.
Another highlight was Terné Čhave, a band from Hradec Králové in East Bohemia that plays Romany music with Romany lyrics. There are a couple of guitarist/vocalists who play seated, another two who stand, a drummer, a bongo-player and a violinist. The music is fast paced, and has a rhythm all of its own, but if you think of Latin-American guitar tempered by the thoughtful sobriety of an Eastern-European winter, you’re on the right track. The audience couldn’t help but be drawn to the dance-floor. If I’d had enough money left, I’d have bought one of their CDs too.
I just went for a day this year, but next year, I want to go back and camp for a couple of nights. Looking forward to it already.