“A festival with politics in the background” or “A celebration of exclusive freedom”? Perception of Woodstock Station/Pol’and’Rock Festival in opinion-forming Polish press

Abstrakt

The Pol’and’Rock Festival, formerly Woodstock Station, is Poland’s largest music festival. The aim of this article is to show how opinion shaping magazine articles across political spectrum framed Woodstock Station/Pol’and’Rock Festival between 2014 and 2020. This period has proven crucial in shaping the current political scene in Poland, but was also significant for the event itself, due to the change of its name. Concepts and methods: the research presented here is rooted in discourse analysis, investigating not only the explicit statements made, but also the less obvious language used. The analysis is both quantitative, done using MAXQDA program, and qualitative through a closer look at examples of the most interesting paragraphs. Overall, 85 articles from five weekly magazines (“Polityka”, “Wprost”, “Gość Niedzielny”, “W Sieci” and “Do Rzeczy”) were examined. Results: the main results can be described as showing Station Woodstock/Pol’and’Rock Festival mainly through a sociological and political lens, rather than one focusing on artistic merits of the event. The articles mainly described the audience’s activities and the declared views of the organizers. However, there is a noticeable difference between how these were treated across the political spectrum, with liberal and progressive weeklies presenting them in a more favorable light, while the more conservative titles were critical. Research value: overall, the research shows that Station Woodstock/Pol’and’Rock Festival is an event that incites considerable sociological and political debate, reflecting the polarization in contemporary Polish society. As such, it can be seen as contributing to the research of how politics get reflected in topics relating to arts.