Off the coast of the Baltic Sea lies Gdynia, a picturesque city of 250,000 people on Poland’s Northern edge. Just in land is the Babie Doły Military Airport, a site which for the last ten years has been invaded by thousands of music fans for Open’er Festival. The 1,000 mile distance between Southampton and Gdynia may seem vast, but the regular flights offered by budget airlines such as Ryanair and Wizz Air to nearby Gdansk make for a surprisingly cheap festival experience. A ticket including four days of camping costs just over £110 and you need only glance at the line-up to see that represents extraordinary value for money.
Last year the festival was headlined by Drake, The Libertines, Mumford & Sons and Kasabian. That’s four days of top notch music and this year’s bill is already looking healthy. As with last year, there’s a hip-hop presence thanks to American rappers Wiz Khalifa and Vince Staples. True to the eclecticism that has come to define the festival, the music ranges from the hectic button pushing of Kygo to Mac Demarco’s soothing guitar chords. Some of the biggest draws are likely to be Florence + The Machine and Californian rock behemoths The Red Hot Chilli Peppers. For lovers of all things indie The 1975, Beirut, Foals and Miles Kane and Alex Turner’s superband The Last Shadow Puppets are a must.
The variety doesn’t stop there though. M83, LCD Soundsystem and Caribou will provide the electronic soundtrack for the festival which runs from Wednesday 29th June to Saturday 2nd July. With Grimes, At The Drive-In and Chvrches rounding off the big names already down to play and with plenty more to be announced, Open’er Festival is sure to be one of the hottest tickets of the summer.
For more information on the lineup, tickets and travel check out Open’er’s website here.
