Colours of Ostrava returns to festival circuit with more acts than ever before

Organizers of the Colours of Ostrava music festival have revealed a star-studded line-up for its 20th edition, including OneRepublic, Ellie Goulding, Macklemore, Burna Boy, and Niall Horan (of boyband One Direction).

This year’s edition is set to be the most extensive in the festival's history. Almost 70 foreign bands from around 30 different countries and over 40 Czech performers will come to Ostrava.

Other notable guests include Grammy-winning DJ Purple Disco Machine and U.S. record producer Zhu. English songwriter Jacob Collier, who was nominated for the best R&B song of 2022 at the Grammy Awards, will also play at the festival.

The headliners of the event boast impressive accolades. Pop-rock group OneRepublic’s single “Counting Stars” has charted in the top five in multiple countries, including in Czechia.

Singer Ellie Goulding has released a number-one album in the UK, and is perhaps best known for her song “Love Me Like You Do” that featured in the popular Fifty Shades of Grey 2015 movie.

Rapper Macklemore has reached number one on the U.S. Billboard charts with his “Thrift Shop” single 10 years ago, which charted at number four in Czechia. 

Afrobeats and pop singer Burna Boy has won the Album of the Year award at the 2019 All Africa Music Awards. U.S. music magazine Rolling Stone included him in its list of the top 200 singers of all time. Niall Horan, who was part of the now-inactive One Direction that scored multiple global number-one hits, is a successful artist with a top-10 UK single.

The sixth year of the Meltingpot international discussion forum, featuring over 200 speakers, will also take place during the festival. Talks on science, politics, culture, and lifestyle will happen across 11 stages, with notable guests including British sleep expert Matthew Walker and Israeli journalist Tuvia Tenenbom.