Sopot Festival history
The beginnings of the Festival
The first Sopot festival took place between 25 and 27 August 1961. The first day was a Polish song day with such artists performing as Jerzy Połomski, Sława Przybylska, Ludmiła Jakubczak, Rena Rolska, Violetta Villas and Tadeusz Woźniakowski . The second day was an international song day featuring foreign guests: Nora Brockstedt (Norway), Fred Perry (Austria), Helia Casanovas (Mexico), Zoe Couroucli (Greece) and Inger Lindblath (Sweden). The third day of the festival consisted in the concert entitled "A song knows no borders". The first festival was hosted by Irena Dziedzic, Zofia Słaboszewska, Lucjan Kydryński and Mieczysław Voit. The artists were accompanied by the Polish Radio Small Symphonic Orchestra conducted by Stefan Rachoń and the Polish Radio Dance Orchestra conducted by Edward Czerny.
The idea of the festival came from Władysław Szpilman, eminent pianist, musical director of the Polish Radio, gifted composer, who created both classical music and popular songs.
The three first editions of the festival (1961-63) were organised in the Gdansk Shipyard hall. The festival was later moved to the Forest Opera and soon became one of the largest musical event in Poland, second only to the festival in Opole.
Thanks to the International Song Festival, the Forest Opera becomes a summer attraction of Sopot each year and thanks to the television broadcast, a point of interest throughout Poland.
The unique scenery of the Forest Opera in Sopot (gallery) has served as a background for performances of artists representing various styles and types of pop music.
Changing through time
The many years of the festival's history have seen changes of its name, rules and organisers. In the 1960s and early 70s the festival was a typical song contest organised by the Ministry of Culture and Art in collaboration with the Polish Artistic Agency PAGART. Its participants included famous and popular European artists, such as Karel Gott (Czechoslovakia), Frida Boccara (Monaco), Henri Dés (Switzerland), Izabelle Aubret (France), Salomé (Spain) and many others. In mid-1970s these same organisers, in collaboration with the Committee for the Radio and Television, organised the Ivtervision Festival in Sopot. It was the most prestigious musical and song event in Eastern Europe. Sopot became the place where stars from the Eastern block had their huge success - among them were Helena Vondračkova, Jiři Korn, Frank Schöbel, Ałła Pugaczowa, Hana Zagorova, Maryla Rodowicz.
Nowadays
In the last few years alone Sopot has seen recitals from such artists as:
1998 The Corrs, Chris Rea, Tanita Tikaram, Ace of Base, ERA
1999 Lionel Richie, Whitney Houston
2000 Texas, Bryan Adams
2001 Goran Bregovič, Lou Bega, UB40
2002 Zucchero, Garou
2003 Ricky Martin, Gotan Project
2004 Kate Ryan, In-Grid, Patricia Kaas
2005 Scorpions, Simply Red
2006 Elton John, Katie Melua
2007 Norah Jones, gwiazdy lat 70.
2008 Samanta, Sabrina, Sandra, Kim Wilde, Limahl i Kajagoogoo, Shakin' Stevens, Tomas Anders
Among the artists previously performing during the festival were: Charles Aznavour, Shirley Bassey, Boby Solo, The Temptations, Boney M, Johnny Cash, Kim Wilde, Jose Feliciano, Alison Moyet, Marilion, Paul Young, Beverly Craven, Chuck Berry, Vanessa Mae, Annie Lenox, The Kelly Family, Vaya Con Dios, Deep Forest, La Bouche, Secret Garden, Boyz II Men.