I am grateful that I was invited to be a part of the festival. I thought everything was done very well and it was very well organized. I had a wonderful time and hope to come back again someday.

Chester Thompson (Genesis, Weather Report, Frank Zappa)

Back in early October 2008 I got to spend 5 fantastic days in Poland. In Opole to be exact. I was privileged to play at the 17th International Percussion Festival. This was one of THE best run festivals I have ever been involved in. Voytek and all of his amazing crew at RAGTIME really did a first rate job. Being that this was the 17th festival is amazing in itself. I don't know of anything quite like this festival anywhere in the world. 3 different cities all with shows and clinics going on on different days, at different times, with multiple PA's being sent and set up, and all of the different drummers each with there own set up. If there was any problems I sure didn't see any. I did 3 different performances and all of my shows went off perfectly. The Polish people were all so great. I was treated very very well, I was able to talk and hang out with other amazing professional players that I had never met before, I was able to drink some Polish vodka (good times!!!) and eat some great food, I was able to perform and play my drums, and best of all I was able to get to know some really fantastic people that I would never had had the chance to meet if it wasn't for this festival. So thank you Voytek and everyone at Ragtime! I have memories that will last a lifetime.

Nick D'Virgilio (Spock's Beard)

I would like to thank the Percussion Festival of Opole for bringing me to Poland for their shows, along with our new group, Stick Men. We were very impressed by the organization, the professionalism, and the spirit of all the people involved with the promotion. The crews were terrific, allowing us to do the best shows we were able. The audiences were great too - so we had a wonderful time. It was a great week for us in Poland, and we look forward to coming back again!

Tony Levin (Pink Floyd, Yes, Peter Gabriel)

The origin of International Percussion Festival can be dated at 80's, when Wojciech Lasek, the main coordinator of the festival, the Principal of the National Music School in Opole and the drum teacher those days, organized 1^st Drum Music Days in Opole, in 1988. In the beggining, festival was addressed only to drum class students from music schools, from all over Poland. Throughout the years the formula had changed. The third edition already was international. During festival you could attend concerts, as well as instrumental workshops/clinics and contests. only on stages in Opole city, but with time, festival started to grow and now you can attend concerts also in Katowice, Wrocław and other cities of our country. Thanks to years of hard work festival, from a one-day event became an event that lasts more then three weeks nowadays. During concerts, firstly only drum and percussion kind, you can now listen to musicians and bands, where all the artist are marvellous in their disscipline of music.The variety of music played during festival, which is a huge advantage of the International Percussion Festival, became a main reason of a growing popularity within the fans. Starting with classical music, through rock, jazz, blues, pop and ending on metal music, festival became a cultural event, that is addressed to all kind of people. Workshops/clinics, leaded by invited musicians are occasion not only to get to know all the drum masters tricks of the playing, but also their own ticks. Thanks to those artists, festival can unite not only people from all over the Poland, but also from abroad. Many talented vibrofonists and drummers from Poland is taking part in the contests organized during festival, and they are being noted by jury that is build with stars of drum and percussion music.
You could also take a look at different drum and preccussion instruments, during special exhibitions. It was then when Opole started to host musicians from all over the world. Talking about the festival, it is important to mention dozens of people that are involved in it's preparation. In an organization point, the festival is a professional event. International Percussion Festival, the fruit of work of many people's hands and hearts is a big, multi and interdisscipline world-class event, that can not be compared to any other in Poland!