You might know his name from Eurovision, or maybe from the radio. Now picture that same person standing on a stage in a castle park in the town where the world's first sugar cube was born. Yes, right here, among the chestnut trees in Dačice in South Bohemia. When you think of the best events in Dačice, you'd expect a harvest fair or a firefighters' dance rather than a name that fills Prague's O2 Arena elsewhere. But this August week is different: over a single weekend, one open-air stage will see Ben Cristovao and Slovak pop-rock staple No Name take turns.

And here's one fun fact to start with: the very same Ben Cristovao who fills open-air stages today once represented the Czech Republic at Eurovision and received a round zero from international viewers. With the song "Omaga" he performed in the second semi-final, but failed to qualify for the final after receiving 0 points from international viewers and 23 points from international juries. Back home, it didn't cost him a single gram of popularity. And now you can catch that very artist just a few steps from Dačice Castle. This article will help you navigate the programme: who plays, when, where and how to buy a ticket without ending up with a tout.

Best events in Dačice this week: the programme at a glance

Thursday opens with a smaller evening at KD Beseda, while Friday and the weekend belong to the Noc v Kaštanech festival featuring Ben Cristovao, No Name and UDG. Almost everything takes place in the town centre, mainly on the open-air stage in the castle park.

When you put it all in your calendar, you get a packed long weekend. It kicks off with Dvě deci tuše on Thursday, 13 August 2026 at KD Beseda. The main action arrives a day later: on Friday, 14 August 2026, the open-air stage in the castle park fires up with Noc v Kaštanech with Ben Cristovao and guests, and the same festival frame also includes the No Name and UDG block. The programme continues on Saturday, 15 August 2026, when the castle park hosts another instalment of Noc v Kaštanech. The point is simple: you don't have to travel anywhere for the big names - this week they've come to Dačice. And if you're looking for the best events in Dačice without endless scrolling, here they all are in one place.

Ben Cristovao: from snowboarding through SuperStar to a castle park stage

Ben Cristovao is today one of the most prominent names in the Czech pop and hip-hop scene, even though he started from a position from which very few people make it past their fifteen minutes of fame.

Before he launched his music career, he was a competitive athlete. He devoted himself to snowboarding from childhood, and the peak of his sporting career came in 2006 when he won the Czech Cup title in freestyle snowboarding. He then broke through in a way that is quite rare in the Czech Republic. He became famous in 2009 on the competition Česko Slovenská SuperStar, where he finished in seventh place. He didn't win, yet he turned that experience into a career that winners of other seasons could only dream of.

More interesting than his placing is what followed. In 2010 he released his debut album Definitely Different, and a year later came his second studio album Benny Cristo. His music is hard to pigeonhole - he mixes English with Czech, rap with R&B and alternative pop. What sets him apart from most of his peers: he can hold his own as an opening act for global stars. He has performed, for example, in front of American electro-pop group Far East Movement and Cuban-American rapper Pitbull. And then there's the Eurovision chapter. In 2020 he won the national selection with the song Kemama, but the pan-European final was cancelled due to the pandemic and took place only a year later. You already know the result from the introduction.

That sporting background shows on stage. Cristovao sings in Czech and English and actively performs in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. What you'll see at the open-air stage in Dačice is not a playback performance with a few dance moves, but an energetic show from someone who can get a whole park moving and then pull it back into an acoustic moment. If you only know Ben from the radio, this is a good chance to find out why people talk about him.

No Name: thirty years, ten albums and hits that have become part of everyday life in the Czech Republic

No Name are proof that a Slovak band can feel just as much at home in the Czech Republic as in Košice. Over nearly three decades, what started as a group of brothers has become an institution whose songs are known even by people who would never put them on themselves.

Their roots go back to the mid-nineties. The group No Name was founded on 26 August 1996 in Košice, and the founding members were Viliam Gutray and three Timko brothers - Igor, Roman and Ivan. That family foundation gives the band an unusual cohesion; today they perform with Igor, Dušan, Ivan and Roman Timko, joined by Zoli Šallai and bassist Pavel Jakab. The turning point came around the turn of the millennium. In 2000, with the album Počkám si na zázrak, they achieved their biggest breakthrough, becoming one of the most successful bands in Slovakia.

Why bill them as a headline act in Dačice? Because their repertoire has long spilled over from radio playlists into general public consciousness. The album contained hits such as "Žily", "Ty a tvoja sestra" and "Nie alebo áno", which immediately became popular on Slovak radio stations and catapulted the band into the awareness of a wide audience. When the first familiar chorus kicks in at the No Name and UDG block, the whole park sings along regardless of whether the crowd is pushing twenty or sixty.

The band also draws audiences beyond the classic pop crowd thanks to collaborations across generations. Alongside their collaboration with Jan P. Muchow on the track "Elity", their songs also feature voices such as Chinaski, Lucie Bílá and Božidara Turzonovová. And that they are no fading act is confirmed by their awards: over their career they have received, among other things, ten "Sláviks bez hraníc" and the City of Košice Award for contribution to culture. In Dačice you'll catch the band in the form they have maintained to this day.

Dvě deci tuše: Thursday's opener at KD Beseda

Before the open-air action gets going, the week opens with a Thursday evening in the hall of KD Beseda. The programme features names from the acting and music world, making it a different format from a festival stage under the open sky.

The event Dvě deci tuše takes place on 13 August 2026 at KD Beseda in Dačice. Among the performers listed for this event you'll find Petr Geisler and Ester Geislerová, a duo well known to audiences from film and television. It's a pleasant way to ease into the weekend at a gentler pace, indoors and on a more intimate scale, before shifting into festival mode outside. Anyone arriving in Dačice on Thursday already has something to do on their very first evening.

Noc v Kaštanech and the open-air stage in the castle park

The whole weekend revolves around the Noc v Kaštanech festival on the open-air stage in the castle park right in the centre of Dačice. It's an open-air format where big names meet the setting of a historic town centre.

The practical advantage of a park stage is obvious. There's no stuffy indoor hall and no cloakroom queue - you simply arrive, settle in and listen outside. The programme is spread across several days, so you can pace yourself as you like: Friday's heavy hitter with Ben Cristovao, Saturday's continuation of Noc v Kaštanech, and anyone who wants a calmer start can begin on Thursday at KD Beseda. The chestnut park by the castle also has one advantage that most festival sites can't offer - the natural shade of the tree canopy, which in an August afternoon turns out to be more useful than you'd expect.

One practical tip always applies to events with a line-up this strong: secure your ticket in advance online. Counting on a box office at the door for Ben Cristovao or No Name is a gamble, because the capacity of an open-air stage is not elastic.

How to buy tickets without unnecessary surcharges

Tickets for events in Dačice go through official pre-sales - for Noc v Kaštanech specifically through SMSticket, or via the organiser's event page. The safest route is to click directly from the specific event page in our calendar.

For each event you'll find the date, venue and a link to the official pre-sale, so you won't end up with a tout charging a marked-up price. Specifically, the link for Noc v Kaštanech with Ben Cristovao goes straight to the relevant SMSticket page, and the same applies to the No Name and UDG block. If you want an overview of the whole weekend and what else is happening around it, open our events calendar and also browse the concerts section, where you can see whether your favourites are playing somewhere else soon. Fans who want to go deeper will appreciate the artist profiles: check out the page for Ben Cristovao or browse the full list in the artists section.

Frequently asked questions

When does Ben Cristovao play in Dačice?

Ben Cristovao performs as part of the Noc v Kaštanech festival on Friday, 14 August 2026 on the open-air stage in the castle park in Dačice. You'll find precise details and a link to tickets on the event page.

Where exactly do the events take place?

Most of the concerts take place on the open-air stage in the castle park in Dačice, that is, under the open sky in the town centre. Thursday's Dvě deci tuše is the exception - it is hosted in the hall of KD Beseda.

Do Ben Cristovao and No Name play on the same day?

According to the festival programme, Ben Cristovao's performance and the No Name and UDG block both fall on Friday, 14 August 2026. Saturday, 15 August then offers another instalment of Noc v Kaštanech. Details of the individual blocks can be found on the specific event pages in the calendar.

Where do I buy tickets to avoid being caught by a tout?

The safest option is to click through from the official event page to the pre-sale - for Noc v Kaštanech specifically via SMSticket. This way you avoid touts with inflated prices, because every event in our calendar has the link listed directly.

Is it worth travelling to Dačice from far away?

Ben Cristovao and No Name regularly fill large venues, and here you'll see them on an open-air stage in a castle park. For fans of both acts, it's an offer that doesn't come around in a small town every season, so a detour off the motorway makes sense.

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