Summer is a season of music festivals across Czechia, giving people a chance for some domestic travel. International acts will come to some of the bigger ones as they travel Europe, while Czech bands will be very busy going from town to town. Music ranges from electronic dance to hard rock, with a lot of chances to experience heavy metal in particular.
The main festival in Prague is Metronome, coming to Výstaviště on June 22–24. This year’s headliners are Jamiroquai, ZAZ, and White Lies, with many other acts playing over three days. There will also be a side program of activities.
Two big one-day festivals called Prague Rocks will be at Letiště Letňany. The first on June 2 will feature hard rockers Mötley Crüe and Def Leppard, while the second one on June 21 will have pop stars Maroon 5 and Gwen Stefani.
The biggest festival outside of Prague is Colours of Ostrava, on July 19–22 in the former iron foundry in Dolní Vítkovice. OneRepublic is the main draw, with Macklemore, Burna Boy, Ellie Goulding, and Interpol also on the schedule.
This year, Rock for People, held on June 8–11 in Hradec Králové, has quite an eclectic mix with heavy metal band Slipknot and rapper Machine Gun Kelly as headliners. Alternative rock band Muse and indie pop band The 1975 will also perform.
For fans of oldies, Chris Norman, the former lead singer of the band Smokie, will be at the Benátská! s Impulsem festival, held July 27–30 in Liberec.
The season closes with Mácháč at Máchovo jezero on Aug. 18–19. Electronic dance DJs R3hab and Anfisa Letyago.
Our list only includes the main acts. Usually, there are many more. Check the festival websites for a complete list and also to see which dates a particular act will appear. There are also many individual concerts throughout the summer that are not part of festivals.