This year the annual festival will concentrate on the British spirit and will traditionally welcome new music stars of all genres. The multi-genre festival will once again introduce talented musicians from all over the world, who will rock on the six main stages located between Karlín Square and Invalidovna. Apart from rising stars, you can also look forward to performances by Czech and long-established foreign musicians.
Star Friday
The programme will start on Friday afternoon, when Karlínské náměstí will be painted in British colours and become a ‘British Island’, whose centrepiece will be the stage in front of the church. The energetic Czech band, Zrní z Kladna, who had their premiere performance a few years ago during the festival, will kick off the musical performances. They will be followed by the young, talented Irish singer-songwriter David Keenan, the Czech rock quintet Povodí Ohře, and the British indie-rock band The Sherlocks, who are currently featured in Škoda’s advertisement in the UK.
All-day events on Saturday
Saturday will be the main day of the festival. The morning programme on the Karlín stage will certainly be appreciated by all the children celebrating International Children's Day. It will start with a performance by the popular Bombarďák trio, which will delight young visitors with a concert full of wild songs and crazy dances; followed by choirs from Prague 8. You can also look forward to the Scottish band The LaFontaines, the Belgian quartet Portland, and the English songwriter Alasdair Bouch. The controversial showman, Kapitán Demo, will perform once off performance in Prague, inviting the winners of the United Islands’ Discoveries, chosen by music experts under the billionaire’s leadership, onto the main stage. This year, the winners are the indie-rock band from Beroun, Save The Emotion, whose singer has American roots. In the evening, the London trio, Husky Loops, will perform their spontaneous rock show.
Liberty Island
The festival also joins the celebrations of freedom for the thirtieth anniversary of the fall of the Iron Curtain. Freedom Island will be built in the Kaizel Gardens, where concerts by bands from Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Germany will take place. Trupa Trupa, the Polish art-rock band, will be the main star here. The symbolic ‘wall of freedom’, as well as many other activities in the accompanying programme, will also remind you of the anniversary. “All the bands that will perform here were lucky to have grown up in a free environment, which certainly cannot be taken for granted. Thirty years ago, they would never have been able to come together on one stage because of the regime of the time. Most importantly, they can all create freely now. Today, we tend to forget that freedom is not always certain. Come to remember that with us,” Moimir Papalescu, the executive producer of the festival, attracts visitors to the United Islands of Prague.
Accompanying programme
However, there is more to the celebrations than just music. Křižíkova Street will be the centre of a rich accompanying programme for both adults and children, offering many varied activities to entertain everyone. One of them will be a quiz for kids and adults about the year 1989, giving you the opportunity to educate your children about the Velvet Revolution. The retro photographic display area will bring you back to Wenceslas Square in November 1989, as well as to a great pre-revolutionary teenage room.
INFORMATION ABOUT THE EVENT:
United Islands of Prague
31/05/19 at 3pm
01/06/19 at 10am
Karlín, Prague
◾Free admission
For more information, please visit https://www.unitedislands.cz/en/