Hard Rock Heroes Festival

Hard Rock Heroes Festival 2023
It will be a real feast for all hard rock fans! HARD ROCK HEROES FESTIVAL will take place on June 12, 2023 at TAURON Arena Kraków! Deep Purple will be the headliner of the festival! Among the special guests there will be such artists as the Scottish group Nazareth, the Polish scene will be represented by Kruk & Wojtek Cugowski!
Nazareth
A formation that certainly needs no introduction to any hard rock lover. The band has been active on the music scene since 1968. The group has 25 studio albums to its credit, and the latest one, “Surviving the Law” was released in April 2022. The band came to the top of the European charts primarily thanks to two albums from 1973, “Razamanaz”, which was produced by Roger Glover from Deep Purple and “Loud ‘n’ Proud”. However, the band’s album “Hair of the Dog” (1975) brought worldwide fame. In the United States alone, the album has found over 1 million buyers. It was on this album that the song “Love Hurts” was found, which Nazareth popularized and it was this version of the song that became a worldwide hit. The band currently tours with Carl Sentance (vocals), Pete Agnew (bass), Lee Agnew (drums) and Jimmy Murrison (guitar).
Raven
A formation that is well known to Polish fans of purple sounds. The latest album “Be There”, recorded together with Wojtek Cugowski, was released in April 2021 and met with a sensational reception from fans and the media. Certainly, Kruk’s music eludes rigid definitions – it draws inspiration from classic hard rock such as Deep Purple or Rainbow. The band is also not afraid of long complex compositions and flirting with more progressive sounds.
Piotr Brzychcy: “It is impossible to imagine a better festival for Kruk than Hard Rock Heroes with Deep Purple as the main star. It is a great honor and great happiness for us. Kruk has already performed with Deep Purple three times and it was the greatest fulfillment of our dreams. As a longtime fan of hard’n’heavy music, when I heard about such a festival, I immediately thought – you absolutely have to be there! legendary groups slowly decide to retire, or worse, go to the other side of the rainbow. There is also a spark of hope in my heart that maybe for this special occasion Wojtek Cugowski and I will prepare a premiere song, because work on Kruk’s new album continues!”
Deep Purple
This is a true phenomenon of the music scene. This band is considered the most important group in the history of music, which co-created such genres as heavy metal and hard rock. It was Deep Purple that was entered in the Guinness Book of Records as the loudest band in the world. The group has been operating for over 50 years and has sold over 100 million records. Deep Purple has released 22 studio albums and numerous live albums. Their song “Smoke On The Water” was among the top 500 compositions in the history of rock music.
In 2020, the album “Whoosh!” was released, and in 2021 the album “Turning to Crime” with a set of unusual Deep Purple covers. In July, Steve Morse left the band, but was replaced by Irish singer and guitarist Simon McBride. The great musical journey under the sign of Deep Purple continues, and the band itself impresses with its brilliant concert form. Metal Mind Productions invites you to:
12.06.2023 – TAURON Arena Krakow
Ticket prices in advance / on the day of the concert:
Slab – 290/ 320 PLN
Sectors:
1st category – 380/ 410 PLN
II category – PLN 340/370
III category – PLN 280/310
Tickets are now available at: shop.metalmind.com.pl, www.eventim.pl, www.ebilet.pl
More information: www.metalmind.com.pl
Beerweek Festival

The biggest festival of Małopolska (Lesser Poland), featuring only exhibitions of Polish breweries, as well as delicious food and phenomenal atmosphere.
A wide spectrum of craft beers aside, BeerWeek Festival also has a broad educational offer – courses and lectures meant not only for specialists, but also laymen who are only just getting into the world of craft beers, whose experience is limited to only regional or even syndicate beers. We wish to help our visitors ascend from beer consumers to beer gourmands and select what they consider the top beer of the festival.
More information about this event and the exact date will be posted soon.
Also read more on the festival’s own webpage
See our relation from the 5th edition from 24-26th May 2019.
Great Dragon Parade

22st Great Dragon Parade
Great Dragon Parade in Kraków is one of the largest and most colorful open air events in Poland, taking place annually in the first weekend of June. Although intended to cater primarily to children, this event manages to bring tens of thousands of tourists of all ages from across the entire world to Kraków.
For this celebration, the Kraków Old Town is converted to Dragon’s Cave. During the first day’s evening one can see the spectacle by Vistula’s boulevard, starring the main characters swimming along the river with an impressive musical and visual accompaniment.
This year’s main theme are dragons associated with Polish cities, cathedrals, castles and palaces.
The first dragons will arrive by morning of 4th June and will stop by the boulevard near Dragon’s Cave, where Family Picnic is also located. Around 10am children and adults alike can try playing with the dragons, rolling dragon eggs, archery, visiting tents of the event’s sponsors or participating in one of the many competitions with prizes.
During saturday evening the dragons will be floating near the bend of Vistula at the foot of Wawel Castle. This is where the Open Air Grand Performance will take place at 10pm. The enormous helium dragons – up to 25 meters long and a dozen meters tall – will be animated from barges and ships by actors from Groteska Theatre to dance in rhythm of music, accompanied by lasers, gigantic water curtains and pyrotechnic effects. Groteska has over 30 of such dragons at their disposals, out of which about a half will be used during this one hour long spectacle.
Much like in 2021, Grand Performance is tipping its hat towards pro-environment movements. The show will make use of cutting edge silent pyrotechnics – much more silent than traditional ones while being just as visually impressive. It is also bang-free, contained to intended area of performance and fully bio-degradable.
In Sunday afternoon (5th June) the Gread Dragon Parade will depart from Planty to Main Square via Grodzka Street. Over 30 of these colorful monsters will be animated by children. 22 of them will compete for title of the parade’s most beautiful dragon. These figures are created by schools and culture centers by children and their teachers and caretakers from all over the country.
The legend of the Wawel Dragon
But why dragons? One of the most popular Kraków’s legends tells about a dreadful dragon that used to live under the Wawel Hill and terrorized the city. The inhabitants of Kraków had to feed the beast by giving to it offerings of cattle and their virgin daughters. Many knights tried to kill the monster, but all of them died burned by dragon’s flames. And finally… It was Skuba, the shoemaker, who outsmarted the dragon by giving to it fake sheep stuffed with sulphur. Having eaten the sheep, dragon felt pain and burning in the throat and started drinking water from the Vistula river. The dragon couldn’t quench the thirst and kept drinking, swelling from the excess of water. And then, suddenly… It exploded, bursting into milion pieces! Skuba was properly rewarded and inhabitants of Kraków lived happily ever after.
Celebrations during Great Dragon Parade
Now the legend came back to life! Groteska Theatre’s actors used this story to show their reinterpetation of the dragons in amazing spectacle on Vistula River. Enormously big puppets, loud music and fireworks display attract many tourists since the year 2000.
The most spectacular celebration will take place after nightfall – multiple gigantic (up to 25 meters tall) swimming and floating dragons will be moved across Vistula river, near Wawel Castle, with help of barges, ships and jet skis. All with impressive musical and lighting accompaniment, including fireworks and laser lights, which along with massive crowds of viewers give this spectacle unforgettable expressive power.
Another key part of this event is Great Parade of Dragons, which takes place in the antique Kraków center. A score of dragons designed and made by the march’s participants (mostly children and youth) will compete for the grand prize for the prettiest and most ingenious dragon. All with side performances by dancers, musicians and jugglers.
The program of this year’s dragon festival:
Dragon Family Picnic on the boulevards near Wawel Castle:
June 3 – 6:00 p.m. 10am to 8pm
June 4 – 6:00 p.m. 10 to 19.00
The Great Night Show on the Vistula River – June 3, at 22.00
The Great Parade of Dragons (ul. Grodzka-Rynek Główny) – June 4, at 12
Join Great Dragon Parade and see for yourself!
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