2021

24-27 JUNE 2021

The 14th edition of Different Sounds, marking the 8th year under the banner of East of Culture, was held from 24-27 June 2021.

Just like its predecessor, the year 2021 presented a unique set of challenges for music festival organisers, demanding constant adaptation and creative navigation within the ever-changing landscape of event planning. As the organisers of the East of Culture – Different Sounds festival, we once again rose to the occasion, determined to host an in-person event that would bring solace and inspiration to our international audience and partners during these difficult times. We were also committed to providing tangible support to our invited artists and collaborators, who faced an ongoing period of professional uncertainty. Building upon the successful safety measures implemented in 2020, we further expanded our protocols to ensure a safe and enjoyable festival experience for all. Once again, the festival tent graced the Błonia meadow near the Lublin Castle, its vibrant presence echoing with diverse and captivating music for four days. We had the pleasure of encountering the exceptional Instant Classic record label and its talented roster of artists: Jantar, BNNT is Resina, ARRM and Dynasonic. We also had no shortage of bands from various corners of Europe: Mouse on Mars, Tarwater, Daniel Latorre ORGANisation, shishi, Pokaz Trio, Jordan Reyne. We also featured the most exciting musical acts from our homegrown alternative scene: Muniek i Przyjaciele, Spięty, WaluśKraksaKryzys, Włodi/1988, Ślina, Colors., Dalekie, you.Guru, Oranżada.

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, it was exceptionally difficult to organise this event due to restrictions on movement and mandatory quarantine. Beyond the emphasis on the meaningful content of the event, which aimed to educate, surprise, and provide the audience with unique encounters with 39 artists, we were very keen on maintaining the festival’s format as known from pre-pandemic editions and preserving its multifaceted nature. The programme was therefore rich in all the modules that define its identity, and the non-musical events included, among others, film screenings (“TOPOWA! Never Give Up”, dir. Philip Sansom, Inigo Gilmore; “Truth to Power”, dir. Garin Hovannisian; “Raw Chicks. Berlin”, dir. Beate Kunath; “Symphony of the Ursus Factory”, dir. Jasmina Wojcik), an exhibition of Lewis Hine’s photographs in the Hartwig Alley, an exhibition of book covers and portraits of authors of the Wschodni Express series, “Estraordinary people” – an exhibition of illustrations by artists from the Pictoric collective, , the exhibition “Romani homes. Life of thye Drohobych community”, as well as an exhibition portraying our festival audience over the past few years. Literature fans could enjoy meetings with writers, poets and translators, as well as literary premieres. In 2021, the Wschodni Express’ portfolio expanded by another 7 titles:

Andriy Lyubka “Your Gaze, Cio-Cio-San” (translated into Polish by Bohdan Zadura),, Kateryna Babkina “Grandfather danced the best” (trans. Bohdan Zadura), Zoltán Mihály Nagy “Satan’s Spawn” (trans. Daniel Warmuz), Vasyl Slapchuk “The same dust on the road” (trans. Wojciech Pestka), Juris Kronbergs “Wolf One-Eye” (trans. Olga Wiewióra), “Lieutenant Piatrowicz and Ensign Ghost” by Uładzimier Arłoŭ (trans. Bohdan Zadura) Marius Burokas “Jonah lived here” (trans. Agnieszka Rembiałkowska).

The festival included a number of music-related discussions. A highlight was the meeting with representatives of the Instant Classic record label, featured at the festival this year. There were also conversations about books: Filip Łobodziński discussed Barny Hoskyns’ “Lowside of the Road: A Life of Tom Waits,” and Jarek Szubrycht led a discussion with Muniek Staszczyk and Rafał Księżyk about their book “King! Autobiografia.” Finally, there was a meeting with Konstanty Usenko about his book “Wykresy fal środkowej Wołgi”, hosted by Jędrzej Słodkowski.

As every year, the youngest festival participants could enjoy “Little Different Sounds,” our original educational programme designed to familiarise children and youth with sound and various musical genres, demonstrating that music is a rich territory for exploration. In addition to the summer workshops held from June 24-27 (13 workshops in total, plus a final show featuring the festival song and music video), this year’s programme also included autumn events (a series of 3 workshops). The workshops offered a variety of activities, including: Learning the ukulele from an experienced instructor and music therapist, developing a vocabulary for talking about music and learning to name the sounds we hear around us, analysing musical works to understand their structure, making ceramic rattles and rain sticks, writing original songs and making creative music videos. In 2021, female workshop participants created a song under the guidance of Karolina Czarnecka as part of the “Córy edition” series. A group of young creators also collaborated under the direction of Michał Iwanek to compose a jazz song about Lublin. To ensure the safety of artists and audiences during the pandemic, this edition of the festival was held in a specially adapted format that met the new requirements, including the implementation of health and safety protocols, compliance with audience capacity limits, and mandatory registration for participants.

The fact that the East of Culture – Different Sounds Festival successfully navigated the pandemic turmoil was appreciated by the festival aucience, who awarded Different Sounds the public choice award in the Gazeta Wyborcza “Strzały” poll.