Major music festival postponed amid controversy
PR dla Zagranicy
Roberto Galea
22.05.2017 17:59
The Opole festival, one of the country’s largest music events, has been postponed by the host town amid a simmering controversy involving the event’s organiser, public broadcaster TVP.
A past edition of the Opole music festival. Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Over recent days, a number of artists who were booked to headline the festival dropped out. These included veteran musician Maryla Rodowicz, who this year was set to celebrate her 50th anniversary in the music industry.
Other artists who dropped out, including pop musician Ania Dąbrowska, claimed that TVP and its chairman Jarosław Kurski tried to use the festival “in political games”.
In a statement issued on Monday, the mayor of Opole, a city in southern Poland, said that it was terminating “with immediate effect” the contract it had signed with TVP for the festival.
In the statement, Opole mayor Arkadiusz Wiśniewski said that the city was unable to move ahead with the agreement to host the 54th edition of the festival, due in part to the fact that Maryla Rodowicz had withdrawn from performing. Wiśniewski said it was TVP’s job to ensure artists would participate at the festival.
“The public withdrawal of many artists from the festival would significantly reduce the importance of the Festival,” the statement said, adding that Opole city hall is willing to cooperate with TVP in organising the festival “at a new deadline and with a new agreement”.
Meanwhile, TVP announced on Monday that it would sue several publishers, including the owners of the Gazeta Wyborcza daily and Newsweek Polska weekly, for “disseminating news that TVP had censured artists” who were set to take part in this year’s Opole festival. (rg)