My First Music Festival | The Colours of Ostrava

I was surprised to find that the food at the festival was reasonably priced. Shots of Jack Daniels were 60 CZK and under (about 3 USD), a doner kebab was 100 CZK (about 5 USD). At any festival, amusement park, or sporting event that I’ve been to a hot dog itself is at least 10 USD. My absolute favorite part though was the free water stations that were set up for everyone to fill their water bottles. Can’t go to a festival without being able to rehydrate (at least, that’s what I’ve learned from my first experience so far).

There was a variety of food, too. Not just sausages, but sausages in a bun, hamburgers, more sausages, Vietnamese noodles, sliced sausages, Thai curry, Argentinean steak and so many other wonderful cuisines from around the world (and sausages). The quality of the food should be the reason for anyone to attend the festival in the first place. Oh yeah, and don’t forget to try the donuts.

The music presented at the Colours of Ostrava was a mix of different genres. There was folk, there was hip-hop, there was rock and many others. As I mentioned before Joss Stone was one of the main acts, whose name I have heard since I was young, but never once heard any song by her. She. Was. Phenomenal. It was during her performance, while I was falling in love with her voice and the way she interacted with the audience that I realized one thing: the artists presented at this 4 day music festival are not just singers and songwriters, they’re entertainers, especially the artists who graced the main stage.

With every act, I watched as the artist interacted with the crowd, made them laugh, made them actually want to watch the stage. Everyone was happy, fun, and free-spirited and so in love with their craft. Not once did I ever think, “Man, this person is boring to watch.” Joss Stone had the audience humming, Seasick Steve chugged a bottle of wine like my typical Friday night, N.E.R.D. invited a huge group of people to dance onstage and so on. Every performance was captivating, personal, and kept the viewer entranced. I didn’t even have to know the lyrics of any song to keep my attention.

Pharrell and one of his dancers

So, unluckily for me and luckily for the crowd, I was not forced to remove my top when I was raised up on my friend’s shoulders (or is it vice versa?), my comfortable walking shoes and t-shirts were acceptable attire, and I did not have to sleep in a measly tent void of showers. The Colours of Ostrava music festival was fun, entertaining and full of free-spirited independent people and artists. If I could do it all again, I would, except maybe I’d drink more beer.

Powerful Joss Stone