Dates: 19-21 August 2016
Venue: Vladivostok, Sports Harbour Embankment
Motto: People / Art / Cosmos
Ilya Lagutenko: “The Festival is like a living organism, it is in a constant state of evolution. It has grown and developed – not only taking into consideration the tastes and interests of the curators, but also through the time and space interactions with the audience and participants alike. Last summer, when discussing the future of the festival, we planned to choose as the motto for V-ROX 2016 – People / Art / Cosmos. Why Cosmos? Well, the main criteria for the selection of participants this year were not only their well-rounded artistic talents, but also their ability to communicate with the public and with ‘space’, with micro and macro cosmos. This is an ambitious task – perhaps one that will take centuries to achieve.
But the concept we came up with for one of the festival days this year is a day of cosmic music – a genre which people have been increasingly interested in over the past decade. The next day will be a day of the International Art. By tradition, we gather musicians from different countries to allow audiences to have their own priorities in selecting who they want to see and hear. And the third day will be dedicated to the People – the musicians of Vladivostok. They have already proven themselves in the competition “Battle for V-ROX” and we felt that they deserved a special day to themselves – to perform to a multinational audience.
This year, V-ROX Cinema is all about regional geography. Our partners from embassies will introduce films that allow us all to take a glimpse into the lives of distant and, indeed, close neighbours.
Whilst we have expanded the geographic remit for participating countries, the V-ROX Festival venue remains unchanged – the Sports Harbour Embankment. So plan to vacation in Vladivostok this August and we will do the festival together!“.
Festival Venues
The V-ROX 2016 three-day programme will be held on the main city waterfront – Sports Harbour Embankment. Over the course of three days the main stages will have different programmes – Friday, August 19th – Cosmos Day; Saturday, August 20th – International Artists’ Day and Sunday, August 21st – Vladivostok People’s Day.
The V-ROX festival’s night programme will be located in the surrounding area of Pogranichnaya Street. All the clubs there are within walking distance of each other and the musical genres on offer will vary from heavy metal to experimental electronic music. There will be a chance to see the main stage artists there as well as other acts that we will be welcoming to Vladivostok.
The V-ROX 2016 outdoor main stages will be free public events, however, all night-time activities will have a fee charged on the club doors (festival delegates will be exempt).
Road to V-ROX
Applications for participation at this year’s festival were received between January and May 2016 via the V-ROX site. This year, the festival will be welcoming more than 100 different collectives from around the world. There will also be further qualifying rounds for the festival which will start in June. These will be held in conjunction with our festival partners Nashe Radio, MTV Russia, Colisium – International Music Conference and the Mumiy Troll Music Bar, Moscow.
Information Zone
The Press Center for the festival will be located at the Mumiy Troll Music Bar, Vladivostok (Pogranichnaya Street, 6). From the 19th to 21st August, it will be possible to obtain accreditation and information about the festival – including the programme, maps, coupons, tickets, wristbands and merchandise. Festival volunteers will always be on hand to help.
Media
In addition to the Russian local and national mass-media attendees, V-ROX 2016 is inviting leading media representatives from the United Kingdom, China, Korea, the USA, India, France and Australia.
Educational Programmes / Lectures
In true V-ROX tradition, the festival’s conference and educational programmes will be diverse. The educational programme will bring together not only music industry insiders, but also people who connect music with education, with business, and with world culture as a whole.
Cinema
This year, V-ROX Cinema will take place in the recently re-branded OCEAN IMAX cinema. Screenings will include films from France, Australia and India. The film festival will also feature the Russian premiere of the Mumiy Troll’s much-anticipated ‘rockumentary’ film of the year – ‘Vladivostok Vacation’, which was presented at the Cannes Film Festival 2016.
Festival Market
During the three days of the festival, a ‘festival market’, with support from a company called CreativeSpot, will be located across from the main stages. The V-ROX Festival Market is a great opportunity for creative businesses. Here, exhibitors can introduce their creativity to a wider audience, test their business models and, of course, demonstrate the potential of Vladivostok creativity to local Russians and to foreign festival guests alike. Any project is welcome to take part – regardless of its form.
Food Court
With the support of our long-term partner VVO Project, there will be a designated food court at the festival where guests can enjoy authentic Far-Eastern delicacies and signature drinks.
The future of the festival
Ilya Lagutenko: “A favourable vibe about the V-ROX Festival is sweeping across the planet – literally! V-ROX ambassadors receive numerous requests for participation in projects from Japan all the way to the Baltic countries. For me, it is difficult to describe the concept of our festival, it forms itself each year, interacting with the realities of Vladivostok, the city. This is the true essence of any art project. I do not see much sense in having “super concerts for well-known, mainstream performers” or public events ” just for the sake of it”. These often leave audiences cold and indifferent and, sometimes, feeling that they have wasted money and effort.
Our main task should still be to build our own recognisable and organic cultural landscape. It is easier to explain this in terms of comparisons with Primorye province landscapes – they are all very much appreciated for their natural beauty and drama but also for being so intriguing and enticing. The urban architecture and hospitality infrastructure is not perfect, but yet very understanding of the fact that, on a macro cosmic scale, it can be solved and it helps to install faith in what we do.”