During the summer, Brno's streets, squares, courtyards and courtyards will be abuzz with the Brno Music Marathon 2025 festival. This year for the tenth time. To be held at the beginning of August, this multi-genre festival will offer four days packed with musical discoveries, powerful emotions and prominent names from around the world. You can look forward to a selection of world music, jazz, folk, acoustic and experimental music from more than ten countries.
The festival programme will take you on a journey that bridges continents as well as genres - from the forest dreams of Estonia, through Irish dancing to a psychedelic dive into the depths of the human voice. Brno Music Marathon sees the heart of the city host performances that combine traditional musical roots with distinctive and original forms of expression, innovative projects with a deep sense of humanity and powerful emotions driven by the pure joy of playing. The festival offers well-known names intermingled with fresh and talented acts from the Czech Republic and around the world - and besides the usual stages, music will also ring out from unconventional busker gigs set in rooms stylised by artist Kateřina Šedá. Brno Music Marathon is a musical pilgrimage, where every note becomes a story and every moment a celebration of human creativity. This year's festival will run from 7 to 10 August 2025 in the centre of Brno.
As a pivotal event in Brno as part of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network, the festival combines music with the visual arts, dance and cuisine - in dozens of exceptional venues across the city. You can dig the music in places such as the Sono Music Club, the Velodrome, on Malinovského and Římské náměstí, in the club ambience of První patro and Kabinet Múz, at the Museum of Decorative Arts, the Goose on a String Theatre, the Hotel International, the House of the Lords of Kunštát, in the courtyard of the Old Town Hall and at the Theatre on Orlí Street.
"The artists in residence are always someone exceptional, a person who can present a diverse programme that spans the genres - often adding something extra. Two years ago, Omar Sosa spontaneously joined the Piano Relay in the Alfa arcade, while last year Vincent Peirani led a masterclass for accordionists from the UNESCO Cities of Music. The star of this year's festival, Trilok Gurtu, will be playing three concerts - with his Trilok Gurtu Band, the Arke String Quartet and a solo drums & percussion show. He will also be leading the expert workshops, and as he'll be in Brno the whole time, I'm pretty sure we'll also be seeing some surprises from him. It's exceptional experiences like these that have seen music journalists, radio editors and festival organisers from abroad flock to the event in recent years. In cooperation with World Music Charts Europe, UNESCO and other partners, we're preparing an accompanying programme including a conference, get-togethers with Czech musicians, a tour of Brno and some culinary treats," says Milan Tesař, the festival dramaturge, explaining the background of the festival.
The festival will kick off with Estonian duo Puuluup, who wins audiences over with their original mix of folk, samples and the talharpa, an ancient form of bowed lyre. Their minimalist humour and music, a crossover of poetry and experimentation, is accompanied by original dance creations.
World-renowned Indian percussionist and composer Trilok Gurtu, this year's artist in residence, is a true legend whose art has influenced generations of players across genres. His music moves between jazz, Indian rhythms and world music and can bridge the chasms between cultures and eras. In Brno he'll be performing three gigs - with his Trilok Gurtu Band, with the Arke String Quartet in a new project that is a spiritual fusion of East and West, the shadows of Bach and the light of India, and at the end of the festival he'll be playing a unique solo performance. If there's one show this year that can change the way you look at music, this will be it.
The evening of 8 August will see the Velodrome host Balkan Night, featuring Dubioza Kolektiv - a Bosnian band fusing both anger and joy, social commentary and untamed dance beats. The evening will feature other Balkan rhythms, not to mention authentic cuisine.
The festival also gives space to projects that push genre boundaries. Jelena Popržan - a charismatic violist and singer from Serbia - combines baroque, jazz, electronica and original music in bold musical images. For an original and raw sound, check out HlasKontrabas, a duo comprising Ridina Ahmedová and Petr Tichý, with a female voice and a looped double bass shaping a compact musical landscape.
Sisa Feher & Mammatus - a Slovak singer with avant-garde jazz poetics inspired by personal themes - will also be performing. The band MalemIrish will add a dash of Irish flair, while Tom Livaja from Croatia will combine folklore, visual arts and stand-up in a unique multimedia performance. Finland will be represented by Sväng, a brilliant harmonica quartet. The Django stage will host some energetic "Rom'n'Roll" from Terne Čhave - a legendary Czech Romani band, mixing funk, ska, jazz and rock.
The Music Marathon programme includes a number of singer-songwriters - from Martina Trchová, whose new album 90% štěstí does not shy away from personal topics, through Kvietah, winner of the 2024 Anděl Discovery of the Year Award, to Tribute to Zuzana Navarová.
One exceptional show is sure to be the gig by Opava band Ladě, whose raw poetics blur the boundaries between rock, blues and chanson and never fail to leave a lasting impression. Plum Dumplings - a band with a history spanning almost twenty years, masterfully combining layers of guitar, electronics and lyrics rife with anxiety, loss and the search for meaning - will be equally engaging. This year they released a powerful new album, Bezpečí.
In addition to soloists, the festival will also include some vocal projects. The six-member male group Sila will serve up some impressing barbershop-style singing, blending folklore and improvisation, while Polish trio Sutari will put on an enchanting show with their original arrangements and feminine energy. Traditional music in a new light will be offered by Alžběta Luptáková and the project Duša moja - a Slovak singer combining folk with original songs and experimentation. CM Pazúr will hit us with a blast of live Wallachian energy, while Lidová muzika z Chrástu offers an authentic performance of songs from the Plzeň region and Lusatia.
Now a traditional part of the programme, there will also be a matinee performance by harpsichordist Barbara Marie Willi, who, as Dean of JAMU, invites talented students of the Summer Music Academy in Kroměříž to Brno every year and to play alongside renowned musicians from the Czech Republic and abroad.
Brno Music Marathon will also present talented pupils of primary art schools, thanks to the festival's cooperation with the ZUŠ Open project. The programme will also include the popular Piano Relay in the Alfa arcade, as well as an all-day organ marathon in the Jesuit Church.
And that's not all - far from it, in fact, as visitors can enjoy dozens of concerts, unique locations and an atmosphere you simply won't experience anywhere else. For the full programme and tickets, see maratonhudby.cz.
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