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Ostrava is a weird little town you probably never heard of. It’s the third largest in Czechia, and definitely one of the ugliest. Yet its unconventional beauty makes the city one of the most unique places in Europe — especially during the Colours of Ostrava music festival, hosted in a long-abandoned metalworks factory.
Ostrava is just 15 km from the Polish border, and you can’t really omit it on the way to all those pretty destinations — like Brno, Krumlov, Olomouc, or Prague. But most people just pass through, cause it doesn’t feel like a nice place to stop and explore.
Ostrava doesn’t offer picturesque sights typical for European old towns, because the city was shaped (or rather reshaped) during the industrial era — first by the discovery of coal in the 18th century, then by massive steel production in the 20th.
The industrial revolution made the city grow to over 300,000 inhabitants by the third millennia, but also left plenty of ugly scars. Since then, Ostrava has gone through a long post-industrial hangover, with noticeable depopulation and decay.
Unlike many other places that try to hide their decay behind cheap makeup, Ostrava seems to be building its identity right on top of it. So they can be that city with a crazy-ass abandoned factory, rather than yet another “Venice of the North-East.”
The unique part of Ostrava is located well beyond the old town — in Dolní Vítkovice, where coal mining and steel production facilities were transformed into huge public spaces with monstrous constructions repurposed for education and entertainment.
Most of the year, the facility grounds are open to the public. You can freely stroll among giant steel machines, have dinner at the restaurant inside a 70-meter-wide gas tank, or climb the unsettling windy stairs atop an 80-meter-tall blast furnace.
In summertime, Dolní Vítkovice often turns into huge festival grounds for various music events, like Beats of Love and Colours of Ostrava, which made me visit the city for the third time — and will probably tempt me to come back again next year.
Colours of Ostrava is supposedly one of the biggest alternative music festivals in Central Europe, running for over 20 years. It has hosted many big names, like David Byrne, Sigur Rós, alt-J, Pharrell Williams, The Cure, Franz Ferdinand and so on.
Although I intentionally skipped this year’s headlining performance by Sting (as well as 3 out of 4 days of the event), I got to enjoy Finneas’ concert and fulfilled my dream of seeing one more live performance of the punk-rock Jesus — Iggy Pop.
Pro-gear is banned at the festival grounds, but I managed to smuggle in my faithful Fuji to show you the colors of Ostrava, and encourage you to give this city a chance next time you’re passing by. Unlike all the tourist traps around, it really needs it.
