Michal Kaščák (SK)

Michal Kaščák is a promoter and musician. In 1997 he founded the Pohoda Festival, where he has been director, curator, and booker ever since. He is still an active musician with his band Bez ladu a skladu. The New York Times listed the group among the “bands that helped bring down the Iron Curtain” and described them as “musicians who stood out from behind the Iron Curtain.”

Pohoda is an art festival where alternative, indie, electronic, punk, and ”world music” meets classical music, along with literature, dance, visual arts, film, NGOs, and theatre. In addition to the festival, the Pohoda team organises concerts and small festivals, such as the Doma dobre festival for people without home, the Slovenska krcma (Slovak Pub) series of antitotalitarian concerts in 120+ clubs around Slovakia, the Slovenska Teplaren pro LGBTI+ series of events in 250+ venues, the Slovak Heart pro Ukrainian series of events across 250+ venues across the country, and more.

Pohoda festival is an active supporter of Music Saves UA, a member of Yourope and its initiatives, such as Take a Stand and YES Group, and has won the Green Operation Award, the Take a stand Award, the Award for Excellence and Passion, and the Best Medium Size Festival Award at the European Festival Awards. Derek Robertson of Drowned in Sound wrote about Pohoda: “The organization is superb. Compared to UK festivals this is Utopia. In fact, it’s one of the most well-behaved festival crowds I have ever witnessed…”.