Every year, the Metalfest Open Air festival is one of those that opens the summer festival season in the entire Czech Republic. This is a well-known and traditional metal event for several years, which no metal and hardcore fan is missing. Among the other musical genres you can hear here are also rock, rap and countless offshoots of metal.
This year’s 12th year will again be held in the beautiful natural surroundings of the Lochotín amphitheater in Pilsen. The Lochotín Park and the Pilsen Zoo are in the immediate vicinity. Visitors highly appreciate this environment for its amazing view of the stage. Thanks to the staggered layout of the amphitheater, the stage can be seen from almost every place.
The first year of the festival took place in 2009 and was immediately a great success. Back then, it was a three-day blast of the best from the metal and hardcore music scene. In 2022, the festival was extended by one day. But this year’s edition has returned to its old ways and will last 3 days. The same festivals are also held every year in Poland, Germany, Croatia, Italy, Switzerland and Austria. It is therefore the largest international festival, which is visited by several thousand Czech and foreign fans every year.
Line-up a program festivalu Metalfest Open Air 2023
For example, the German group Powerwolf, which is known for its stylizations as werewolves and references to Christianity, is the most vocal attraction. Swedish death metal groups Arch Enemy and Avatar will also please fans. When the thrash metal group Testament arrives from America. Black metal group from Poland Behemoth and Finnish Korpiklaani will complete the festival line-up. There will also be representatives of local metal, the band Sebastien.
Other performers will be Insomnium, The Unity, Annisokay, Thunder Mother, Wind Rose, Megaherz, Crypta, Amalgama, Any Given Day, All for Metal, Redsphere, Forrest Jump or Solar System. The exact schedule of individual performances and the content of the accompanying program has not yet been published.
Doprava na festival Metalfest Open Air 2023
I own a car
Several parking areas and places will be prepared near the festival grounds. It is best to purchase parking in advance to ensure that a free space will be reserved for you.
From Prague the D5 highway leads to Pilsen. At Ejpovice, you will get off at Plzeň and then follow road number 26 and 20. Then follow the signs to the festival or to the Pilsen ZOO. The whole route is about 90 km and will take you 1.5 hours.
If you set out from Liberec, then the fastest way is to take the D10 highway to Prague and from there on to the D5 as described above. This route will take you about 2.5 hours.
In a little over two hours, you will drive to the Lokhotín amphitheater from České Budějovice. You will use the first-class road number 20, which will take you comfortably all the way to Pilsen.
Metal fans from Brno they will have to cross literally half of the country. The fastest way is on the D1 highway to Prague and from there on as described above. In total, you will spend about 3 hours in the car.
By bus
Bus from of Prague it goes to Pilsen every hour and the journey takes 1-2 hours, depending on the selected connection. In all cases, you do not need to transfer anywhere. The Pilsen, CAN stop is key for you.
Road from Liberec is somewhat more complicated. You will not come across a direct bus. In most cases, a transfer in Prague is always necessary. Other transfer points can be Karlovy Vary, Příbram, Rožmitál p. Tř. or Jablonec nad Nisou. You will spend around 5 hours on the way.
Traveling by bus from České Budějovice represents many transfers. There are only 3 simpler connections during the whole day, where you only have to change in Prague and you can complete the whole journey in 5 hours. Other daily connections force you to transfer up to 4 times and the journey takes 5 – 8 hours.
Who will go from Brno and wants to use bus transport, he can only find two direct connections to Pilsen, and that is after lunch. These buses are there in 4 hours and 45 minutes. You can also use several other connections with one transfer in Prague. Another possible connection requires up to 3 transfers and a journey as long as 8 hours.
By train
Train transfer from of Prague to Pilsen is problem-free. You can choose from several connections per day. You will be on the train for a maximum of 1.5 hours.
Passengers from Liberec they have no possibility of a direct connection. The easiest, but not the shortest, connection is with one transfer in Pardubice. It will take you 6 hours. You can also make the trip in 4 hours if you change in Turnov and then in Prague. Another possible connection requires 4 transfers and is unnecessarily complicated.
From České Budějovice there are several direct connections daily. The trip takes around 2 hours. For Brno fans, the most suitable connection is a train to Prague and then a transfer to a direct train to Pilsen. The journey can be completed in 4.5-5 hours.
MHD
Bus lines 41 and 56 take bus lines 41 and 56 from the Pilsen, CAS bus stop to the Amphitheater stop. The journey to the festival grounds will take you about 10 minutes. If you arrive at the festival by train, you will need to take a local train, a trolleybus and then a bus from the main train station. You cannot avoid at least two transfers. Allow 20-30 minutes for the journey.
Accommodation at the Metalfest Open Air 2023 festival
A tent city will be built near the festival grounds. If, however, a tent is not a suitable solution for you and you like the peace and comfort of a hotel or apartment, then start looking for accommodation as soon as possible. At a distance of up to 5 km from the site, there are a few remaining free capacities. Their price for 2 nights for 2 people is around 10,000 CZK on average. Accommodation facilities directly in Pilsen are already sold out. The solution is the adjacent villages, e.g. Horomyslice, Dobřany, Pňovany, Dolní Lukavice, Stod and Přeštice. In terms of price, you can fit within 5,000 CZK for two nights for two. However, you must expect a driving distance of up to 20 km.