Most American ravers know very little about the scene in the former Eastern Bloc, aside perhaps from Berghain and the festivals in Croatia. Drum & bass denizens would likely know about Let It Roll out of Prague and maybe that Czechia is a hub of modern neurofunk, but may not know how big the scene actually is in Czechia and Slovakia. In fact, it’s quite widespread, with the popular imagination festival, loads of clubs and some of the most popular producers coming out of everywhere from Dresden to Russia. Beats for Love, a festival based in Ostrava, Czechia on the Polish border, seems to have been one of the most overlooked by North American punters while simultaneously becoming one of the biggest festivals on the planet. It’s time said punters take notice.
With festival fans beginning work on planning their summers around now, it’s a good time to look up Beats for Love. Conceived in 2013 by festival director Kamil Rudolf as a way to bring big rave names to Central Europe for reasonable prices, B4L’s tenth anniversary is set for early July, 2024. It’s a full week-long festival set in an old ironworks with cool, dystopian vibes, in an urban and easily accessible area and features huge lineups, with 2023’s festival…
