The inaugural Park Live festival was organized by the Melnitsa concert agency and took place at the All-Russian Exhibition Center (VDNH) from July 28 to 30, 2013. The event was headlined by Limp Bizkit, The Killers, Pendulum, and Zemfira. Other acts included Poets of the Fall, Louna, Justice, White Lies, Paramore, Crystal Castles, Within Temptation, NOFX, and more.
In 2014, there were plans to organize a Park Live event in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, but they were canceled due to the political situation in Ukraine (the ousting of President Viktor Yanukovych as a result of Euromaidan and the subsequent Russian annexation of Crimea and war in Donbas). So the festival was once again held in Moscow from July 27 to 29, 2014.
Marylin Manson was supposed to headline the first day of Park Live 2014, but his performance was canceled due to a false bomb threat. The other two headliners were The Prodigy and Deftones. Other performers included Die Antwoord, Savant, Therr Maitz, Dope D.O.D., Lykke Li, Yann Tiersen, Wild Beasts, SunSay, and others.
Park Live was held in Moscow until 2019. Its headliners from 2015 to 2019 included Muse, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Lana Del Rey, System of a Down, David Guetta, Gorillaz, Massive Attack, Bring Me the Horizon, Thirty Seconds to Mars, and Die Antwoord. The festival changed several venues during these years: it was held at Oktritie Arena (currently Lukoil Arena) in 2015 and 2016, at Arena CSKA in 2017, and in Gorky Park in 2018 and 2019.
The 2020 festival was supposed to take place over two weekends in July at two different venues, but it was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2021 and 2022 festivals were scheduled but also canceled, first due to the pandemic-related restrictions, and then due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine since most of the invited acts refused to perform in Russia.
Eventually it was decided to move the event to Almaty, Kazakhstan. The first edition of Park Live in Almaty was held from September 6 to 8, 2024. The headliners were Die Antwoord, Tyga and Placebo, and the line-up included Skryptonite, The Kooks, Oliver Tree, Dizzee Rascal, Yonaka, Ninety One, Truwer, Tom Meighan, Dose, Brennan Savage, Ulukmanapo, M’Dee, Hiro, The Kiffness, Yenlik, and other acts. The English rock band Editors were supposed to headline the second day of the festival but they canceled their performances due to Park Live being sponsored by the Russian tech company Yandex.
Photo: park.live
