Czechia’s third city, Ostrava, was shaped almost entirely by its industrious past. Chimneys and headframes still rise above the city centre and litter the surrounding landscape despite the vast majority of the factories, mines and processing plants shutting up shop in the tail end of the 20th Century.
It seems fitting then that Colours of Ostrava – the city’s annual multi-genre music festival – makes full use of the now defunct Dolní Vitkovice steelworks. This former metallurgical plant, mine and ironworks is a European Cultural Heritage Site that has thankfully not only been left standing proud on the edge of central Ostrava, but has been transformed over the last decade into a educational, cultural, and social center.
It’s a setting that is used perfectly, giving the festival an almost post-apocalyptic feel. The two-dozen outdoor and indoor stages sit amongst the kilometres of rusting pipelines and occupy every inch of the site from warehouses to tunnels breathing new life and colour into this important piece of Ostrava’s heritage.
It really is a photographers dream. Across the 4 nights of Colour’s 2023 incarnation, I managed to capture thousands of images, far more than I know what to do with. Rather than just having them sat unused and unseen on my hard drive, I’ve presented a few of my favourites here for all to see.
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If you would like to see what camera equipment I use, check out this blog post to see what is in my camera bag. You can also find a whole bunch of photography tips and photo diaries elsewhere on my blog.
You can find my full Colours of Ostrava Review here.
I attended Colours of Ostrava as a guest of Moravia Silesia Tourism. However, all views expressed are my own.
