Elton John will headline the next Life Festival Oswiecim, held in the Polish town where the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp was located.
The festival was announced Dec. 3, and John will perform there in June.
“Like everyone, I am shocked by the recent terrorist attacks in Paris and elsewhere. In June, in Oswiecim, we’ll be celebrating life, peace and music,” John said in a statement published on the festival’s website.
Life Festival Oswiecim was organized for the first time in 2010. It was the idea of Polish journalist Darek Maciborek, who was born in Oswiecim and wanted to “break the spell” of the town commonly associated solely with the Auschwitz-Birkenau Nazi camp, which is now a museum and memorial site.
Pop stars who have performed at the festival in previous years include James Blunt, Matisyahu, Peter Gabriel, Sting, Soundgarden and Eric Clapton. — jta