Castle Party 2026: four days inside Bolków

Castle Party 2026 ran from 16 to 19 July at Bolków Castle in Poland. Side-Line freelancer Karo Kratochwil attended all four days of the festival, from the Thursday opening on the Park Stage to the Sunday closing sets on the Castle Stage. This report covers her route through the weekend, band by band.

This year I did something I had slowly stopped believing I would do again: I took on all four days of Castle Party.

For several years, my festival visits had become more selective. I would arrive later, leave earlier, choose the concerts that mattered most and protect whatever energy remained for photography, writing and the unavoidable logistics of moving through Bolków with far too much equipment. This time, I decided to give the festival the full stretch from Thursday to Sunday.

Four days sound manageable when reduced to a programme. In reality, they mean repeated climbs towards the castle, fast decisions between two stages, batteries, lenses, weather forecasts, missed meals, conversations that begin unexpectedly and continue much longer than planned, clothes that never quite dry, and the growing suspicion that the person who packed the suitcase several days earlier was operating under deeply questionable assumptions.

They also allow Castle Party to become a temporary reality rather than a sequence of concerts. By the final day, the town, the stages, the people and the music had begun to overlap in a way that could never be reconstructed from the running order alone.

My route through Castle Party 2026 was inevitably personal. I did not see everything and would never pretend otherwise. I followed the bands that mattered to me, ran between stages when the programme became impossible, missed concerts I genuinely wanted to see and discovered others that rearranged my entire hierarchy of the weekend.

Thursday: entering the festival through Denuit and A Projection

My Castle Party began on Thursday evening with Denuit, and it was a beautiful way to enter the festival. Their concert had something dreamlike without becoming fragile or vague. The music carried a strong pulse, yet seemed to move through layers of light and atmosphere rather than simply pushing forward.

The visual side was astonishing. Saturated colours altered the apparent dimensions of the stage, sometimes opening a wider space around the musicians and then suddenly enclosing it again. The lighting never felt like a decorative screen placed over the music. It created new rooms inside the songs and gave the performance an almost unreal depth while keeping the connection with the audience intact.

There was elegance in the show, but there was also force. The melodies remained clear, while the electronics carried enough physical weight to hold the Park Stage. Denuit created a world remarkably quickly, and the audience entered it without needing much persuasion.

A Projection followed and changed the temperature immediately. I had already seen them at Castle Party in the Club in Wrocław, where they made an excellent impression, and the Bolków performance confirmed how naturally their music expands on a larger stage.

The guitars cut through the electronic pulse, and the whole set had a kinetic quality, as though every darker emotion had been pushed through a faster, more volatile circuit. Melancholy remained present, but the music refused to let it become passive.

Even the Girls Under Glass cover felt fully absorbed into A Projection’s own language. It carried recognition, certainly, but it never became a museum piece offered politely to the scene. They respected its origin, then pulled it into their own speed and physical tension.

Denuit and A Projection gave Thursday exactly the balance it needed. One created an immersive, almost enchanted atmosphere; the other sharpened it into motion.

Later came another core part of Castle Party: the people. I had proper conversations with friends and acquaintances I had not seen for months, sometimes years, rather than rushed greetings exchanged while checking the time and calculating the distance to the next stage.

Friday: the castle and an almost impossible lineup

Friday was the day I had been waiting for most. The Castle Stage lineup was so strong that I remained there almost entirely, and it became my first real meeting with the castle during this edition.

I arrived too late for The Last Digital Angel, which I regret, particularly because supporting the Polish representation was an important part of my festival plan. I did, however, reach the courtyard in time for She Pleasures Herself.

They offered an engaging mixture of post-punk, gothic rock and darkwave without treating any of those references with excessive reverence. There was humour in the performance, good contact with the audience and a deliberate looseness that suited the afternoon slot very well.

Rotersand

Then came one of my major priorities: Rotersand.

I had initially believed this was their first concert in Poland, but Krischan later corrected me. They had already played at Progresja in Warsaw many years ago, making Castle Party their second Polish appearance.

Rotersand possess a particular kind of stage energy. It does not come from frantic movement or from trying to persuade the audience that every second is historic. Rascal and Krischan understand exactly how their songs function inside a crowd, and that confidence gives the music enough space to work without additional exaggeration.

The set felt close to the best of what Rotersand can offer. The songs were immediate, sharp and immensely satisfying, with hooks that arrived quickly without ever feeling disposable. Rascal’s contact with the audience was direct and energetic, while Krischan held the electronic architecture together with precision. The audience had clearly been waiting for this concert. Rotersand delivered completely.

Empathy Test

Empathy Test changed the atmosphere without losing the audience’s attention. Isaac Howlett remarked that he had finally reached Castle Party, and seeing him on that stage genuinely felt right.

His voice is central to the identity of the project, and the castle presented it with an interesting challenge. Empathy Test’s songs often feel private, close and emotionally exposed, while the courtyard is large and visually imposing. The performance found the right scale: drums and electronics gave the songs greater physical breadth, while Isaac’s voice remained intimate and immediately recognisable. It was a genuinely moving Castle Party debut.

Hocico

Then Hocico arrived, and the stage became a different organism.

Hocico perform with the energy of a thunderstorm that has somehow developed intent. Erk entered wearing his familiar bone-like mask and began moving across the stage with reserves of physical energy that remain astonishing no matter how many times one witnesses them. Nothing about the performance felt cautious.

The audience responded immediately. The courtyard became louder, rougher and less orderly, which was exactly what the music demanded. Hocico took possession of the crowd, and the crowd gave itself over willingly.

Diary of Dreams: the forces of music and nature

What a night.

Diary of Dreams have occupied a very particular place in my life for more than 20 years. These songs have become part of the internal soundscape of many listeners, connected to losses, relationships, periods of solitude and private turning points.

Diary of Dreams had already returned to Castle Party repeatedly, playing in 2003, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2017 and 2021. Their seventh Bolków appearance carried the weight of that long relationship. The music expanded inside the courtyard: electronics accumulated against the stone instead of disappearing into open air, while the guitars struck the walls and seemed to return enlarged, rougher and more physical. Adrian Hates’ voice retained its intimacy inside that scale.

Then the forces of nature entered the same space as the forces of music. Rain swept across the courtyard, the wind cut through the stage, and some of the equipment had to be moved farther back before the concert could continue safely. Everyone was wet, cold and trying to protect cameras, clothes and whatever had not yet been soaked.

Still, once the performance continued, the weather became inseparable from its image. Rain travelled through the lights, wind caught Adrian’s hair and threw it across his face, and the sound moved through the storm, struck the castle walls and returned to the people standing below.

Then came “She and Her Darkness,” a complete heartbreaker every time. More than two decades of familiarity have produced no immunity whatsoever. Despite the profoundly cold circumstances, the welcome from Bolków was as warm as ever.

Covenant: exactly the right band to inherit the night

Covenant arrived in Bolków under circumstances nobody had wanted. VNV Nation had been forced to withdraw because of Ronan Harris’ health, leaving another band to enter a headlining slot already filled with expectation. Covenant were exactly the right band to inherit it.

Every time I see Covenant, I am reminded how little they actually need around them. There are no fireworks and no enormous theatrical concept designed to make the concert appear larger than it is. Eskil Simonsson, Daniel Myer and Daniel Jonasson take their places, the music begins, and the scale establishes itself naturally.

The set felt close to the best-of selection one secretly hopes to receive at a festival. The lighting was spectacular, among the most beautiful of the entire festival. Eskil has a rare way of speaking between songs – kind, intelligent, slightly poetic and occasionally philosophical – that makes a huge festival audience feel unexpectedly close.

The encore gave Friday night the grand finale it needed. Covenant had entered a difficult position and transformed it into a complete Covenant concert: powerful, warm, intelligent and musically assured.

Saturday: between the castle and a miniature industrial festival

Saturday demanded more movement. I began at the Castle Stage, then ran towards the Park Stage, where the afternoon and evening gradually turned into a miniature industrial festival concealed within Castle Party.

Her Own World

My day began with Her Own World, and once again the band surprised me in the best possible way.

The projections, costumes, choreography, lighting and music operated as one complete structure. Yu has grown enormously as a frontperson – she no longer seems to be negotiating with the scale of the production around her; she owns its centre. The heavier passages had genuine impact, guitars and electronics creating a solid foundation while melodic lines kept the music open and emotionally accessible.

Among the Polish acts appearing at Castle Party this year, Her Own World delivered one of the most mature and fully realised performances.

The Silverblack

The Silverblack followed with an immediate visual statement: black-and-white makeup, a strongly metallic appearance and a presentation that suggested industrial gothic metal before the first song had fully settled. The musicians had very good contact with the audience, direct, energetic and often playful.

Long Night

The Norwegians from Long Night brought a different kind of darkness. The vocals were deep, dark and beautifully controlled, giving the songs a weight that required no additional theatre. Long Night’s strength came from tone, voice and the internal atmosphere of the material.

In Slaughter Natives

By the time I reached In Slaughter Natives, Saturday had begun to resemble a compact industrial festival hidden inside the larger Castle Party programme.

Jouni Havukainen’s voice was astonishing. To say that he sang would describe only part of what occurred. The sound seemed to involve his whole body: breath, chest, posture, the contraction of his torso and the visible effort required to force each phrase outward. There was nothing easy in this performance: no attempt to charm the crowd, no softening of the material for a festival afternoon.

XOTOX

Then came XOTOX, and people, that was a fucking show – one of the strongest performances I saw at Castle Party.

Andreas Davids performed with his wife, Claudia, and they needed remarkably little around them. Two tall structures carrying the XOTOX imagery, crosses, hard light, two people and the full physical force of the sound proved entirely sufficient. We also heard two brand-new pieces, both performed live for the first time.

The most impressive part was the physical change in the audience. People began moving as one mass, responding immediately to each new impact. XOTOX were a fucking knockout.

This Morn’ Omina

I had not seen This Morn’ Omina in many, many years. The musicians stood behind electronic stations and drums arranged along long illuminated structures that looked almost like altars, while Mika Goedrijk occupied the centre – not simply fronting a band, but becoming the axis around which rhythm, movement, light and physical pressure were organised.

It was a fucking blast. Percussion did not accompany the music; it set the conditions under which the audience experienced it. Visually, the whole thing stood out: blue, red and purple light travelled across the altar-like stations, drums, bodies and props, giving the stage a ceremonial quality without turning the concert into empty ritual theatre.

Hybryds

Hybryds brought my Saturday to a close by changing the state of attention completely. After the physical force of XOTOX and This Morn’ Omina, the performance slowed the nervous system without allowing it to relax fully. It was poetic, ritualistic and visually beautiful, an intelligent conclusion to Saturday.

Sunday: Polish machinery, illuminated flowers and one enormous discovery

Sunday was shorter for me, although it produced one of my greatest discoveries of the entire festival.

Agonised Too

I began with Agonised Too, and the immediate thought was: what a machine.

Rafał Tomaszczuk’s delivery retained the damage, longing and inward tension present in the recorded material, met with impressive authority against a much larger sonic field. Bartosz Hervy constructed the electronic environment and controlled the visualisations behind them, among the most carefully integrated of the weekend. Rafał carried the exposed human centre, while Bartosz constructed the surrounding space.

White Ritual

White Ritual followed with a stage covered in illuminated flowers and carefully arranged decorations. The interaction between male and female vocals created the central tension of the set, with softness, desire and darker force passing through the same songs.

HORSKH

Then HORSKH happened.

I had never seen them before, and I was completely unprepared for what their music would do to me. Live drums, electronics and guitars tore into one another like parts of the same overloaded machine. It was wild without becoming shapeless, ferocious without losing internal control.

Then came The Prodigy cover. Hell yes. I entered the concert knowing almost nothing about HORSKH. I left with my ears, body and entire emotional system thoroughly ground through, yet somehow returned sharper, more awake and desperate to experience it again. They were one of my greatest discoveries and one of the defining performances of Castle Party 2026.

Rue Oberkampf: my ending

My Castle Party ended with Rue Oberkampf, one of my long-standing favourites. After HORSKH, their entrance did not reduce the intensity; it redirected it.

They opened with “Hope and Fear,” the perfect beginning for my final concert. Onstage, the project understands the value of restraint: movement is limited enough for every gesture to register, while the lighting picks out the figures and then partially removes them again.

Four days later

Castle Party 2026 was never going to become a neat chain of perfectly witnessed concerts. There were unavoidable overlaps, bands I missed, rain, wind, technical interruptions, running between stages, cold clothes, physical exhaustion and constant decisions about where I needed to be next.

Giving Castle Party all four days brought back something I had been missing. Thursday’s conversations remained present throughout the weekend, and people in the audience became recurring figures rather than anonymous faces. Bands that have lived with me for decades stood beside projects I encountered for the first time.

I had also done the thing I thought might no longer be possible: I had taken all four days of Castle Party, and I am very glad that I did.

About Castle Party

Castle Party began on 20 August 1994 at Grodziec Castle. The first edition brought together around 300 people and five Polish bands near the beginning of their careers: Moonlight, Daimonion, T.R.H., Pornografia and Fading Colours.

The festival grew quickly: around 800 people attended the two-day 1995 edition, and roughly 1,000 attended in 1996 with a larger programme. Grodziec could no longer comfortably contain the audience, so the fourth Castle Party moved to Bolków Castle in 1997, the setting with which it has remained identified since: an enclosed medieval courtyard, stone walls that alter the physical scale of the sound, and a small town temporarily taken over by the dark alternative scene.

Attendance reached roughly 2,000 in 1998 and around 4,000 in 1999, when Clan of Xymox headlined a programme drawing visitors from Poland, Germany and the Czech Republic. Castle Party became a three-day event in 2000, presenting 34 bands from across Europe and opening a second stage for the first time.

Side-Line reported on the full 2026 timetable when it was announced in May, ahead of this year’s four-day edition at Bolków from 16 to 19 July.