Young people have gathered for a major annual music festival in Poland that celebrates diversity and tolerance _ and which has faced pressure recently from the conservative government.
Young people have gathered for a major annual music festival in Poland that celebrates diversity and tolerance — and which has faced pressure recently from the conservative government.
The « Woodstock Festival Poland, » whose name itself reflects its liberal youthful spirit, has struggled with restrictions put on it by the conservative pro-Catholic ruling party, Law and Justice.
The three-day event opened Thursday in Kostrzyn nad Odra, near the German border.
The festival, in its 23rd year, is the creation of a liberal social campaigner, Jerzy Owsiak, who has butted heads with the government.
The Interior Ministry recently classified the event as « high risk, » forcing organizers to hire more security forces, while also refusing the help given by German firefighters, who have provided security backup in past years.
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