Music festival V-ROX

V-ROX ("Vladivostok Rock") is an expansive city music festival, yet at the same time it is an international conference on matters of the music industry and cultural management. The festival was launched in Vladivostok in 2013, and since then it has been held annually on the last weekend of August, when the sun is bright, the sea is warm, and the city is at its full beauty.

Ilya Lagutenko, the founder and curator of V-ROX and the leader of headliner rock band Mumiy Troll, boldly put Vladivostok as THE destination place not only on the Russian map, but also on the map of international music.

"V-ROX is an opportunity for young musicians to build connections and create exposure, and to set the foundation for a new independent music scene in pacific Russia," — says Ilya. He has the impressive ambition of turning Vladivostok into a musical capital of the APR.

“Ilya! Ilya!„, chants the crowd of thousands in the central square here on a recent night. Clad in a retro-futuristic silver suit, Ilya Lagutenko, Vladivostok’s hometown star and front man of one of the country’s most popular bands, Mumiy Troll, flips his hair and sings in English and Russian about love, sailors and other matters of local pride“ — describes the New York Times during the kick-off of V-ROX in 2013.

V-ROX brings in musicians, producers, music industry professionals, interpreters, and journalists from central Russia, Mongolia, South Korea, China, Great Britain, Germany, South Africa, the U.S., Singapore, and Hong Kong. The Far Eastern Federal University (FEFU) campus provides accommodations for the festival’s participants. The same campus hosted the well-known APEC Summit in 2012.

The three-day event features open-air and club performances of a wide range of musicians. However, V-ROX is more than just international music. The festival features lectures, panel discussions and creative workshops offered by experts of the global music industry, owners of festivals and music labels, writers, ministers, journalists, and musicians.

V-ROX is both the result and the cause of the changes occurring in Vladivostok over the years. It catapults Vladivostok to new international heights, enriching the Russian musical scene with Asian philosophy, and introducing a creative Russia to the world.

V-ROX 2015 will be held on August 28th through August 30th on the FEFU campus on Russky (Russian) Island, where several festival stages will be open during the daytime and admission is free.

The evening and nighttime events will take place near Vladivostok’s downtown (on Pogranichnaya Street) with an admission fee to the nightclubs (V-ROX delegates are exempt).

Located in the main building of the FEFU, the V-ROX Media Center will open its doors on August 27th. All conferences and educational programs will be held on the FEFU campus as well. V-ROX 2015 will host fashion shows of emerging designers along with a craft fair. In addition to traditional billboards, V-ROX 2015 will be advertised through contemporary graffiti on the public walls of Vladivostok. Various art installations will illuminate the city during the festival: the famous Mumiy Troll Trolleybus #4, different models of Gibson guitars, and many more. The first Vladivostok Gastronomic Festival, which will serve as the main “food court” of V-ROX 2015, will become yet another new feature of the festival.

Official site of V-ROX: vrox.org