Hradhouse Festival
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Festival Hradhouse is an annual festival of electronic dance music that takes place in Boskovice, near Brno, Czech Republic. 2007 sees the 10th anniversary of this prestigious festival which attracts top DJs from within the Czech Republic and internationally. During the 9 years of its existence, the festival has become a fixture on the Czech music scene and in the process has grown from a small summer underground party to an event of international importance. It is a significant event for the region as it reinforces the region's importance as a major centre for dance music as opposed to the more established scene in Prague. Other similar events in Moravia include Rio De Riviera held in nearby Brno.
[edit] History
In 1998 the festival took place for the first time at the romantic Buchlov castle, set deep in the woods. It was the first time that dance music and effects had been used in such a setting and it set a trend for future events. In the early days the line up of Czech DJs attracted just 1000 people but since then the number of guests has steadily increased. The Czech dance scene was from then on the start of its journey and the organisation of a party at the castle was a mini-revolution in its own right.
Since then a number of new parties have taken place in the area and Hradhouse has had to defend its position. The organisation gradually become more professional, and prestige sponsors were recruited and at the same time, guest capacity was increased. In 2001 the festival moved to the bigger castle at Boskovice, which is closer to Brno.
The first performing DJ guest from outside the Czech Republic was DJ Heaven from the UK club Cream. She was brought from the airport to the festival in 1999 in an old car and, as she was wearing high-heel shoes, she had to be carried by the promoters, because there were too many holes on the path to the main stage. In later years the number of international guests increased and gradually a large number of legendary DJs have performed at the Hradhouse festival, including Terry Francis (2000), Richard Sen (2001) ,Nils Hess, Ian Ossia (2002), Marco Bailey, Pelacha, Evil Eddie Richards (2003), Chris Liebing (2004), Cristian Varela, Felipe, Chris Cowie (2005), Michel De Hey, Fergie and Justin Robertson (2006).
[edit] 10th Anniversary improvements
In order to emphasise the importance of the 2007 festival which will be held on August 11th, a new version of the main stage is to be created, along with enhanced lighting, and for the first time part of the dance floor on the main stage will be covered by a roof.
The main guests at the 2007 festival will be Swedish techno producer Adam Beyer, Italian Marco Carola, French electro producer Sébastien Léger and German Christian Fischer. On the lower stage the audience will be entertained by a quality international line-up of drum and bass artists, including British star Andy C and friends from the RAM record label.
