Rock for People is one of the Czech Republic’s leading rock and metal festivals. Launched in 1995, and based at its current site near Hradec Kralove since 2007, the festival brings together an international star-studded line-up each year, to perform in front of 50,000 revellers. Brno Daily’s Natasha Price went along last weekend to take a look…
I arrived at Rock for People with the usual mix of excitement and mild dread that comes from committing to several days in a field. Festivals are always a gamble. You hope for good music and decent weather, but you prepare for mud, queues, and the slow deterioration of your spine. This year delivered a bit of everything, but in a way that somehow worked.
The campsite was my first pleasant surprise. It was close enough to the festival that I didn’t feel like I was trekking through the unknown to get back to my tent at night, but far enough away that the bass didn’t rattle the tent poles. I could actually sleep, or at least drift in and out without feeling like I was lying next to a subwoofer. Earplugs and an eye mask were still an absolute essential to help me get any sleep at all, but that was more down to the late night parties happening outside nearby tents.
Water points were less straightforward. There were plenty of them, but finding them felt like a sidequest no one had briefed me on. They were quite small and often tucked away around corners, making them pretty difficult to spot. Once I had managed to locate a few, though, it went straight into the memory bank and was smooth sailing. Toilets were plentiful and queues rarely lasted more than five minutes, which felt like a small miracle. Beers were around 80 crowns, which stung slightly compared to Brno but wasn’t the daylight robbery I’d braced for. The food, on the other hand, was genuinely impressive. There was a choice of everything from burgers, kebabs, burritos, gyros, pho, and even a Czech canteen for those who’d had one too many and needed a hangover smazak.
Another thing I really appreciated was the scheduling. No overlap on the main stages meant I never had to choose between headliners, and the smaller stages were spaced far enough apart that you didn’t get two bands bleeding into each other or competing for sound. There was also a surprisingly rich non‑music programme: circus acts, stand-up comedy, and slam poetry. The mix of both English and Czech language shows gave the whole festival a much broader cultural feel.
Of course, it wasn’t perfect. Charging extra for showers after already paying for camping felt unnecessary, and the phone‑charging situation was a slow descent into frustration. Not enough stations dotted around, long queues, staff who didn’t always notice if things were plugged in properly, and power banks that barely gave you half a battery. Days of rain had turned parts of the ground into a swampy, mud-covered obstacle course which wasn’t ideal. Wood chips were scattered around, but not nearly enough to make a difference. I saw more than one person covered from head to foot in what I hope was just mud.
Thankfully I managed to get by unscathed and stay upright but my shoes all need some serious TLC! Seating was also an issue, especially for someone like me who joined the 30s club a few years ago. There were plenty of benches and stools, but nothing with real back support which definitely made my lower back complain more often than not. I’m sure the mosh pits had nothing to do with it…
The music, though, made up for any small gripes I might have had. Limp Bizkit was the standout show of the festival for me. They delivered exactly the kind of chaotic, high‑energy set you would expect from a band like them. The crowd was fully invested, and when they brought audience members on stage, it felt spontaneous rather than staged.
US singer-songwriter Halsey ended up being the surprise of the festival for many people. There had been doubts voiced by more than one person about how she’d fit into a rock lineup, but she absolutely aced it. She’d created rockier versions of her hits by adding heavy drums and guitars, as well as making sure to play her previous collaborations with Bring Me The Horizon (even if they didn’t appear on stage with her). Add in the pyrotechnics plus the firework show, and it’s undeniable that she proved every single naysayer wrong.
Bring Me The Horizon were as polished as ever, balancing older songs with newer ones and keeping the crowd locked in from start to finish. Three Days Grace was another unexpected highlight. Their vocals are still strong, despite being in the industry for so long, and the setlist was crafted to keep the energy up. They played their biggest hit, I Hate Everything About You, towards the start of the show which immediately had everyone bouncing. Riot was an iconic closing song and definitely kept them in my memory. Electric Callboy were pure fun: costumes, wigs, pyrotechnics, and a crowd that never stopped dancing. It’s the second year in a row that I’ve seen them at a festival and both times, they’ve been fantastic. Scene Queen closed the festival with a set that was equal parts attitude and humour, her “bimbocore” style translating perfectly to a live audience. Watching Iron Maiden fans, who were a minimum of 60 years old, headbanging to a tiny blonde woman singing about castrating men was definitely an experience I won’t forget.
Blackgold were my personal discovery of the weekend. They brought the energy to an early afternoon set and were also extremely charismatic, bantering with the crowd between each song, it was hard not to like them. Iron Maiden were a mixed experience. It was nice to finally see them live, and the vocals were solid, but the long, repetitive riffs weren’t doing it for me and I ended up wandering more than actually watching them. It felt more like a tick‑box moment than a standout performance.
Gorillaz offered something completely different: a slightly psychedelic, communal experience that leaned heavily on newer, more experimental tracks. Not all of it landed for me, but the classics did exactly what they were supposed to. Breaking Benjamin had the misfortune of battling terrible sound issues. The vocals were good when you could hear them, but the audio kept cutting out, which made it hard to stay engaged. Nothing But Thieves, on the other hand, delivered one of the best vocal performances of the festival. They looked like they were having the time of their lives. The crowd definitely fed off that energy with one guy riding the crowd on an inflatable unicorn and another woman literally surfing the crowd on a door from one of the portable toilets.
By the end of the weekend, my shoes had well and truly surrendered to the mud and my phone battery was suffering, but Rock for People 2026 was worth every single penny. The atmosphere was warm, the organisation mostly solid, and the music delivered more highs than lows. If you’re thinking of going next year, bring waterproofs, multiple fully charged power banks that actually work, and earplugs. Everything else, the festival handles surprisingly well. And with Blink 182 already announced as a headliner for 2027, I’ll most likely see you there!
