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Learn more about MetalDays and Punk Rock Holiday with Nika

If you love metal and punk music and festivals, MetalDays and Punk Rock Holiday should be music to your ears. These two festivals happen every August in the beautiful mountains in Tolmin, Slovenia. With headliners such as NOFX, Descendents, Arch Enemy, Dream Theater or Neurosis, we tried to learn a bit more about these festivals with Nika.

Please could you introduce yourself?

My name is Nika and I am working for a company that organises music festivals in Slovenia.

In a few years, MetalDays and Punk Rock Holiday have become some of the most popular festivals in Europe thanks to a MASSIVE line-up. How do you explain such a success?

I believe it is a result of a hard work and dedication. It is surely not a coincidence.

What make your festivals different from some other big metal, punk and hardcore festivals in Europe?

The major difference is our concept of metal/festival holidays. We like to say, festival is our headliner. Of course all our festivals are in essence still music festivals, but what we do offer is one week of holidays, where our visitors can enjoy the beautiful surroundings of the festival area, 2 rivers where they can swim, lots of additional program, amazing selection of food and drinks and much more.

Metal Days
Metal Days

The music industry has changed a lot during the last 20 years and even big bands have to tour a lot to make a living. Are there any impacts on booking festivals?

The impact is surely visible, prices of the bands have risen rapidly to a greater amounts. This is also probably one of the reasons why some of the festivals sadly did not find a way to continue to exist.

Having some many people in Tolmin, Slovenia is a great challenge, especially when it comes to ecology. How do you deal with this?

We are working at MetalDays very hard in the ecology and sustainability direction. From changing all the cutlery, cups, straws and everything else that is usually made from plastic is from biodegradable materials at our festival, to providing drinking water for freethroughout the festival area, to banning fossil fuel generators this year… We have also created a 5 year Green MetalDays plan, which will be available very soon, which will move us even further towards reaching our goal of becoming a really Green MetalDays.

What are your best memories over the years from MetalDays and Punk Rock Holiday?

There are so many memories it is hard to count them; I believe the most amazing ones come year after year in a shape of all the satisfied and happy guests

Opposite question : have there been some tough moments or any bad experience with bands or promoters?

Bands are usually very easily to work with, so there were no significant issues I would remember right now.

Punk Rock Holiday
Punk Rock Holiday

Are there still some bands you would like to have?

There are surely some bands that we could facilitate on our festival and we did not have them yet, such as Tool for example or Alice in Chains, but many things need to get aligned to have this happen. Lets see what the future brings.

What are your future plans for both MetalDays and Punk Rock Holiday?

As we will not expand in quantity we will surely be working even more in quality of the festivals and in order to present our visitors with even more amazing and unique experience of both festivals.

You also organise Overjam Festival, which is about reggae music, and Bluesland Festival. If you could only pick one festival among the four, what would it be?

Probably MetalDays, because I personally love the atmosphere there, while blues music and Bluesland festival will also be for me a very intense experience, because I love blues.

The last words are for you. Try to convince some more people to come to your festivals!

I can write and speak as much as I want, but what really your readers should do is come and visit us personally and see with their own eyes if I am telling the truth. I can promise they won’t regret it and they will have an amazing time at our festivals in Slovenia.

About Greg Legarand

As a musician, I've been involved in bands since the early 2000's and have been constantly releasing records and touring since then. I use to play the guitar and sing in Bare Teeth and sometimes do solo stuff. I've founded Distrolution to provide bands and labels tools and services they need to get more exposure and help them as best as I can.

About Distrolution Merch

If you play in a band or run a label, Distrolution Merch is maybe your next best partner. We offer top-quality vinyl pressing, CD duplication, merch printing and more. Distrolution Merch is run by merch experts and musicians for musicians.

Our service includes graphic file checking, free delivery in Europe and UK and tailor-made tips and advice. Learn more at www.distrolutionmerch.com.

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