ASTRA Rock Festival 2023

ASTRA Rock Festival 2023 - final lineup, schedule by day and free camping!

The Hellfreaks, the new stars of modern metal from Hungary, together with Byron, Gunshee, Alpha Q, The Groovy Bastards, Rana and Nuanțe complete the line-up of the second edition of the ASTRA Rock Festival, which will take place from 11 to 13 August 2023 at the ASTRA Open Air Museum in Sibiu. They join the already announced lineup of Ugly Kid Joe, Therapy?, Vița de Vie, Niște Bădieți, om la lună, Fără Zahăr, Țapinarii  and Doomsday Astronaut.

REGULATION ASTRA ROCK Festival - Download

Rules and map for the camping area - Download

Important!

• The camping area is specially arranged for ASTRA Rock participants;
• Camping is free and is for tents only;
• Access is by festival ticket (or wristband);
• Facilities: barbecue, terrace, water, electricity, toilets/showers (see regulations).

The Hellfreaks are the stars of the moment on the Hungarian scene, but they have toured Europe far and wide, and even crossed the Atlantic for a successful US tour. Formed in 2009, the band hit the big time with their first album, the bold psychobilly-punk hit "Boogieman", which has racked up millions of views on YouTube. The mix of modern metal, post-hardcore and high-energy punk, coupled with charismatic lead singer Zsuzsa "Shakey Sue" Radnóti, has made The Hellfreaks one of the most impactful musical releases of the decade in Europe and beyond. The band comes to ASTRA Rock after releasing their fifth studio album "Pitch Black Sunset" three months ago, holding high the banner for a new generation of metal and punk rock fans.

Byron play rock with various influences, they were founded in 2006 and have since released seven studio albums and three live DVDs, becoming one of the most appreciated Romanian bands of the last period. The band is used to playing both on big festival stages in front of thousands of spectators and unplugged, unamplified, for a handful of people, filmed a concert in Salina Turda (100 meters deep), composed the soundtrack for an original HBO Romania series, and occasionally does 100% improvisation concerts. In December 2014 they filmed the concert "Electric Marching Band" at the National Theatre in Cluj with a military band and a choir of students, and now Byron is preparing to release a new album.

Gunshee started their live act in 2019, and their music falls in the area of instrumental progressive rock, with elements of experimental, stoner, punk and more. In 2021, the band released their first album, "Friends Through Here", and won the Grand Prize and the Underground Music Award for Originality at the Posada Rock festival-competition.

In 2018, another Grand Prize winner at Posada Rock was also the band from Sibiu, Alpha Q, who deliver "alternative multi-metal", a genre with a versatile sound. Last year, the band made their recording debut with the album "Parallel Universe", coupled with energetic live concerts, connecting with audiences through music and mood.

The Groovy Bastards come from Bucharest and play fusion, harmoniously blending elements of funk, rock, jazz, blues, R&B, hip-hop. Their signature is their unique live performance, the colourful personalities of the members, the "fresh" style translated into their own songs, but also the reinterpretation of well known songs.

Rana is a melancholic alternative rock band from Pitesti founded in 2016. After releasing their debut EP "Verde electric" in August 2022, the band is currently working on their second album, which will be released in autumn this year.

Also from Pitesti comes the band Nuanțe, who approach a strong rock influenced by funk and grunge. The band has three studio albums to its credit, the latest, entitled "Cântece Mute", was released in April 2023.

The programme of the three days of the ASTRA Rock 2023 Festival is as follows:

• Friday 11 August: Ugly Kid JoeNiște Băieți,Fără Zahăr, Alpha Q, Rana;
• Saturday 12 August: Vița de Vie, Byron, om la lună, Țapinarii, Nuanțe;
• Sunday 13 August: Therapy?, The Hellfreaks, Gunshee, Doomsday Astronaut, The Groovy Bastards.

The recitals will take place alternately on the two stages of the festival, one located on the lake and one located in the Country Fair.

Schedule by hours of the two stages at ASTRA Rock Festival 2023

Beyond live music performances, the cultural offer ASTRA Rock 2023 will be complemented by DJ sets and substantial side events such as interactive workshops, poetry recitals and gastronomic surprises.

This year, for the first time, the festival is offering free camping for ticket or season ticket holders in a permanently guarded area with clean toilets, running water and hot showers.

Experience ASTRA ROCK as a family!

Throughout the ASTRA Rock 2023 festival, you have the opportunity to have fun/play with your family at the workshops! That means making leather whips or bracelets, opals & wood painting. There will also be interactive theatre, where whoever wants can play their own role, being a character in the shows ,,From nowhere, here, there, everywhere" & ,,Anaz and the Dragon".

ASTRA Poetic TRAVELERS

This year's ASTRA Poetic exhibition will have the theme Travelers. Nine of the best-known contemporary Romanian poets are invited to orchestrate creative writing workshops, recitals and book launches. Their texts represent the core of an exhibition concept focused on travel as an experience of knowledge, escape, transformation of the self. Alongside the visual art creations, the texts will also be made available to the public in the form of an anthology.

Radu Vancu will launch his latest volume of poems, "Kaddish". The ASTRA Poetic Anthology will also be launched, bringing together the texts that were the basis of the exhibition concept, the 2022 edition, "Escape Bridge", and the 2023 edition, "Travelers", as well as the exhibition dialogue presenting the initial idea of the project, included in the volume "hearts without body".

A creative writing workshop coordinated by Marin Mălaicu-Hondrari will take place on 11 August.

The History of Traditional Crafts from Antiquity to Modern Times

The second edition of the Astra Rock Festival brings the history of traditional craftsmanship from ancient times to modern times to the ASTRA Museum:

• Woodworking workshop on ancient and traditional lathe with Ars Fabrilis Officina; Location: Open-Air museum | Saw-mill from Gura Râului
• Antique and traditional blacksmith workshop with Iazagados; Location: open-air museum | Functional blacksmith workshop
• Pottery workshop of ancient clay pots and clay pots from Marginea, with Omnis Barbaria & Chira Art; Location: open-air museum | The potter's house in Marginea
• Workshop on processing animal hides with Omnis Barbaria; Location: open-air museum | Household-workshop in Tilișca

The "Mask and Double Face" exhibition

The exhibition "Mask and Double Face", opened as part of the ASTRA Rock 2023 Festival, offers an opportunity for a spectacular journey into the legendary land of the village of Nereju, Vrancea County. The community keeps alive the memory of an archaic world, where the Chipăruș dance helped people to distinguish between good and evil, to cross thresholds and overcome traumas together. The masks are the subtle identity or double of man, an opportunity but also a cure for fear, an exaggeration but also a restriction to approachable dimensions of the ancestral fear of the Great Crossing. The mask laughs or cries, assuring the villagers that evil departs and good remains, at least for a while. The mask accompanies man to the border between worlds and the border between years. Each old year goes with its sorrows, each new year brings rebirth, cleansing. Location: open-air museum in Dumbrava Sibiului | The doge's farm-workshop in Nereju, jud. Vrancea, 11 August 2023, 13:00

OPEN DOORS to the village of yesteryear

We open the museum doors to the village world of yesteryear! It's a vibrant world, which we will rediscover with you on a special tour chosen for the Astra Rock Festival. We learn stories about people and objects through guided journeys by museographers, curators and craftsmen. The houses will be open from 1 pm to 8 pm for the monuments of the "Secret Memory of Objects" (the households of Horezu, Găleșoaia and Nereju).

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After 17:00 visitors who do not wish to attend the ASTRA ROCK FESTIVAL can only visit the areas indicated on the map below

Passes for the three-day festival cost 250 lei, single day passes can be purchased for 100 lei and are available on iabilet.ro - https://www.iabilet.ro/bilete-astra-rock-2023-86831.

ASTRA Museum subscribers benefit from a limited number of reduced-price subscriptions, purchased at the institution's headquarters.

Children under the age of 12 have free admission to the festival when accompanied by an adult day pass or full pass holder.

Festival full passes and day passes also provide access to the museum and its many related activities on the weekend of 11-13 August, on the occasion of the Feast of the Virgin Mary.

The ASTRA Rock Festival is organised by the Rock Culture Association and the ASTRA Museum, with the support of the Sibiu County Council and the Ministry of Culture.

More information about the museum can be found at https://muzeulastra.ro/colectii/muzeul-in-aer-liber.

Official website of ASTRA Rock Festival - https://www.astrarock.ro.

The official Facebook page of ASTRA Rock Festival - https://www.facebook.com/astrarock.ro.