Prague’s islands on the musical waves of the United Islands by Česká spořitelna.

The festival opens one week from now, on Thursday, 21 June, with the Club Night and continues on Friday and Saturday on the islands.

200 hours of music, the largest Club Night in Prague ever, 10 stages on the islands, 26 clubs, Prague downtown closed to traffic, “Dutch Prodigy” Kraak & Smaak, O Children – a guitar band from England, Polish ethno-punkers R.U.T.A., legends of the Czech music scene Tichá dohoda and Monika Načeva, the youngest rock band The Colorblinds, tens of thousands of spectators, music fans, bands from 21 countries, families with children, rock, indie, electro, World music, jazz, folk, blues, theater, movies, utility design, gastro boulevard, lovely Prague as you haven’t seen it before. All of that is part of United Islands 2012!

One of the first summer festivals has grown into a giant music show. United Islands by Česká spořitelna takes the unique area of Prague’s islands and clubs; the program is offered to the spectators free of charge. One of the goals of the festival is to bring music and spectators to the downtown and to revive the original purpose of parks, islands, and riverbanks – meeting places for people. “We have always strived that people take our event more as a music festival than an urban party. I guess that the feeling cannot be avoided this year anymore. In the context of the Czech Republic, I suppose we are the most music-oriented festival – at least that is what I have observed,” says Martin Voňka, one of the festival organizers.

On Thursday, 21 June comes the largest Club Night in Prague ever; the event opens the doors of 26 Prague’s clubs, even the most prestigious ones. The full program is available at the new, concise website www.unitedislands.cz. Club Night commences at 18:00 hours in the unique premises of the Nostitz Palace concourse which is opened for the public by the Ministry of Culture on the occasion of the festival. Luno and Lanugo bands will be performing. Among the 70 projects performing at Club Night you can enjoy, among others, the Czech producer Floex, Please The Trees, Allstar Refjúdží Band, Peter Pan Complex, The Colorblinds and Le Pneumatiq.

The open air part of the festival starts on Friday, 22 June early in the afternoon on 5 stages on Střelecký Island, Kampa, and in the Jazz Dock club. Singer/songwriter duo Kieslowski wakes Střelecký Island as early as at 14:30 with Alef Zero from Pardubice which has recently released its new album, Back to Zero. The visitors can look forward to seeing Sofa Surfers, triphoppers from Austria, and Fuel Fandango, a musical discovery from Spain. The Czech scene will be represented by the newcomers Prince of tennis, Republic of Two, Jana Lota, Zrní as well as the cult formation WWW. The organizers and patrons officially open the festival at 19:15 on Kampa. The next item in the program is one of the headliners, RUTA, an ethno punk band from Poland. The Garage stage in the northern part of Kampa is presenting a special program to remember the 1990s by the performances of Toyen, Tichá dohoda and Monika Načeva with her concertNebe je rudý.

On Saturday, the main day of the festival, the space along the river forms a single, compact area of the festival. The closure for automobile traffic applies to Janáčkovo Riverbank and Legií Bridge from 0:00 hours in the night from Friday to Saturday, 23 June until the end of the festival.

The program commences as early as 11:00 hours in all main open-air stages. Important concerts will be performed since the opening of the event. “The festival is going to change downtown Prague beyond recognition. Set off for an easy walk, take no stress from the wide range of choices, and enjoy your walk through the festival, stopping wherever you might want,” advises David Gaydečka, one of the festival organizers.Saturday’s program includes 85 excellent bands from 21 countries in 10 stages as well as complementary program in 5 special stages. The headline event is the long-awaited concert by Kraak & Smaak playing live.

The musical program ends on Friday and Saturday with the official after-parties which start at 22:30 in the MeetFactory club. The Saturday offers the Canadian funky-breakbeat duo The Funk Hunters. The after-parties as well as the entire festival are admission-free.

You can plan your route through the festival either in the My Program section of the web or directly in the map that is included in the festival’s Partner Pass. For this year’s edition, the organizers have come up with a brand new concept of the Partner Pass that contains a CD with 36 mp3 tracks by selected artists performing at the festival, a detailed catalog with profiles of all artists as well as a detailed map of the area with line-ups of individual stages.

Apart from the traditional performances, the festival hosts the Air Guitar finals and an improvisation contest of the festival musicians at the Fénix Frivol Battle. The Reflex Stage on Žofín will present the political cabaret Blonďatá bestie and a rap battle. The festival will also host the winner of Czech YouTube Fest that offers young Czech bands an opportunity to perform in the country’s biggest festivals. The Open Mike on Janáčkovo Riverbank once again marks an opportunity for solo singers as well as individuals from the audience having the cheek for their several minutes of fame.

Apart from the music, you can enjoy extensive secondary program of the Islands of Leisure. As the organizers also thought about families with children, the area also offers daycare center for the festival as well as Circus Principal Wanted, an action-based game on Dětský Island. Janáčkovo Riverbank again turns into a pedestrian zone that offers the gastronomy boulevard, stalls with utility design and fashions by young Czech artists, and street theater.