MayDay

A new issue of AKCE magazine: A May Day premiere!

The fourteenth issue of Akce will be available to the first of the interested ones at May Day festival. The cyclone of articles in the latest issue will take you through topics like power structures, analysis of the contemporary Nazi movement, street art gallery and a summary of antifa hooligan scene. You will be able to get your copy at several places in the festival area - in the distro of Antifascist Action, in the movie tent and in the coffee house on the lecture stage. The magazine contains 44 pages and you can get a copy for CZK 35.

Festival area

We prepared a little hint for you so you won‘t get lost between all the temptations that will be prepared on Císařská louka and that we have introduced to you on this website. On the map, the white places offer a nutrition for the soul, eyes and ears and the green places offer a nutrition for the body and your taste cells.

The big stage on the left side of the map will offer bands headed by Heaven Shall Burn. The tent on the upper right side of the map will offer movies and documentaries in the lower floor and a presentation, workshops and acoustic dirty punk in the upper floor. On the main lecture stage on the lower right side of the map you can enjoy the lectures by Alan Carter, Octavio Alberola and John Holloway, the performances of Ztracená Existence theatre and another batch of music. You can find more info on the schedule of each tent or stage in the Program section.

See you there!

Dáša fon Fľaša

Submitted by festakovnik on Fri, 04/29/2011 - 12:18

Bands

Dáša and his acoustic dirty folk will be among those proving that punk does not need electric guitars and other noise-making devices on this year’s May Day. His take on DIY music gets by with just an acoustic guitar, raw vocals and mainly the lyrics, that are poetical, romantic and ironical at the same time. But the most important aspect, above all of these nice words, is the pleasant fact that Dáša is capable of self-irony and he takes seriously neither himself, nor the world he can describe so well.

Bayonetes

Submitted by festakovnik on Fri, 04/29/2011 - 11:37

Bands

Another heartily pleasant visit from abroad – this time from Serbia and Montenegro. Bayonetes formed in 2004 and same as their brothers in arms, Red Union, they quickly acquired an iconic status in Balkans. The band describes their sound as street punk influenced slightly by original ska and mainly by the English scene of the end of 70’s and beginning of 80’s, and this description is accurate without a doubt. Their catchy songs include punk drive and the desperate atmosphere of the street. Every tone pulses with exquisite music as well as a clear attitude (Bayonetes are an openly antifascist band) and creates an exceptional entirety. One of the reasons for their popularity is their reputation on stage, where they can reform every audience into a singing and dancing mass. Come and see for yourself. www.myspace.com/thebayonets

Ilúzia

Submitted by festakovnik on Fri, 04/29/2011 - 11:37

Bands

Ilúzia from Slovakia is one of the biggest discoveries of recent years. The band has been playing for a couple of years now, but it is the today’s lineup that let the originality and power of the band to come to light. Their latest record Búrka (The Storm) is literally charged with static electricity and great energetic songs that will make you play it over and over again. Their sound is based in fast and upright old school hc/punk that Ilúzia reforms with a big load of authentic invention. The tinge of violin seems virtually ingenious, and combined with the uncompromising female vocal, it forms an almost heroic feeling and brightens the sound of the band. The cherry on top is the exceptional political lyrics with a personal feeling and the approach to the problems around us. Ilúzia is also famous for the performance on the stage and for the ability to transmit the energy from the records to the stage. We can’t imagine a better kick-off of this year’s May Day. www.myspace.com/iluzionists

MayDay 2011

On behalf of Antifascist Action, we invite you to May Day – a political festival with cultural overlap - for the fourth time. The festival will take place on the 1st May 2011 on Císařská louka in Prague, starting at 12:00.

During the first day of May, many Czech as well as foreign bands will take over the stage, as well as interesting lecturers, workshops, theatre plays and movie screenings that you will get a chance to attend. Kids as well as their parents will for sure welcome the possibility to visit the children’s corner where the kids can play with their parents or be taken care of when their mom and dad want to see their favourite band or a lecture. We will kick off the celebrations of 15 years of Antifascist Action on Císařská louka, so we worked really hard to make you love the program. So let’s see what is there for you to enjoy:

We continue with the past years trend and so we extended the lecture part of the festival some more. This year, our festival will host the following names: ALAN CARTER, professor of Philosophy on the Glasgow University, an influential anarchist thinker concentrating on ethics, moral philosophy, human impact on the environment and it’s relation to the life itself. JOHN HOLLOWAY, sociologist and lecturer of the Autonomous University of Puebla, who is cooperating on a long-time basis with the Zapatista movement. We will also be honored to welcome an anarchist activist and member of the antifranquist resistance OCTAVIO ALBEROLA.

The musical part of the festival will again be very colorful - many bands across genres wanting to support the emancipating ideals agreed to play. You can look forward to the uncompromising metal/hardcore of the Germany’s own HEAVEN SHALL BURN. HSB have their space among the top of their genre and they will play in Prague after a couple of years, and this time completely without getting paid, as well as all the other bands and performers. Among these, there will be PSH – a Czech hip-hop legend that will bring many of their guests on stage in a special MayDay set. Ska fans will sure welcome a big name of the scene – THE CHANCERS, who are well known for the energy of their shows. The Serbian RED UNION will bring their melodic HC/punk with a clear political message, as well as their brothers in arms, BAYONETTES. The up-to-date form of hip-hop will be represented by LUSHLIFE from USA, another band representing overseas will be SPECTRES from Canada, bringing their energic post punk following the path of Joy Division or Wire. There will also be two bands from Slovakia ready to make your blood run fast – VANDALI and ILÚZIA. The former mixes fast HC/punk with a load of humor and sarcasm and the latter builds mainly on the singer’s perfect voice and original compositions. The charismatic singer/songwriter DAŠA FON FLAŠA is also of a Slovak origin. He is an amazing player with words, as well as ARAN SATAN. The strictly underground punk scene will be represented by JONESTOWN and their crust/HC. So this year’s lineup is complete and all we can say is that we are very happy to see so many bands from such different genres and subcultures standing hand in hand on such a festival as MayDay.

There will also be a theatre performance called “Vandaska” (a name based on the surname of the infamous Workers Party leader Vandas) by the theatre company ZTRACENÁ EXISTENCE (Lost Existence), workshops and movie screenings. There will also be a lot of space for presentations of anti-authoritarian, ecological and other groups and collectives. Vegan catering and a coffee place offering fair trade treats are a sure thing.

Mayday 2011

We are trying to to create a festival where politics is naturally connected to music and to a lot of fun – but politics as the shared responsibility of every one of us for the course of the world surrounding us, not as struggle for power and for votes.

We hope that you will see that MAYDAY is not an ordinary festival. MAYDAY brings a mixture of music, fun and political ideas. We tried to constitute the program of influential bands, interesting lectures and workshops concentrating on current events both in Czech Republic and in the world. But we do not want MAYDAY to be an oasis or a hideout from the everyday reality. On the contrary – it should be an inspiration for ordinary workday lives of everyone – there are so many problems surrounding us and we have to try to realize them and try to find solutions. MAYDAY can stay MADAY only if it retains its spirit and does not become a festival just for festival. We do not organize MAYDAY for ourselves, but for all of us – including you. We are trying to avoid the common concept of “work for pay” and we try to build the festival on the grounds of voluntarily cooperation. We would love to be able to avoid all the compromises. That is why you can also participate in creating the festival – by some kind of financial contribution, by leaving the place clean as it was before, or by taking part in discussions. We create MAYDAY together, and that is the only way to reach for the impossible. MAYDAY means both fun and inspiration!

See you soon!