Markéta Irglová and Glen Hansard in concert at the KVIFF on July 10, 2008, in the hall of the Richmond Hotel. Tickets will be on sale on July 6 at the main box office and F-bar box office for 400 CZK.

The duo won an Oscar at the beginning of this year for Best Song from the film Once, which enjoyed a great deal of success at the festival at Sundance and was highly praised by Steven Spielberg. The Oscar award brought with it a huge wave of interest in the successful couple's music.

Irglová and Hansard will be coming to the Czech Republic on the tail of yet another sold-out tour through the USA, after an appearance at the Glastonbury festival followed by a concert in Dublin where they performed with folk legend Neil Young. From the Karlovy Vary festival they will be setting out straight away for the Oxygen festival, the largest in Ireland. This will mark the first visit to the city of spas (and cinemas) for both of them.

"I'm curious, I've heard that the atmosphere there is more relaxed than in Cannes and the other A-list festivals, that an inseparable part of the festival is not just VIPs and celebrities but also students with rucksacks on their backs sleeping in tent towns and film fans period," says Glen Hansard in response to how he's looking forward to the festival. Markéta Irglová adds: "I'm looking forward to us being able to go to the cinema at least once after a long time."

In addition to playing their song from the film Once in Karlovy Vary, the duo will also be presenting their latest work for their upcoming CD. Sales of the Once soundtrack in the USA are currently reaching the one-million mark, and the disk has stayed in the TOP 10 in the Czech Republic for half a year now. Since the beginning of the year, the film's two protagonists have played more than sixty concerts in the US and will be returning there in August, September and October. On Sept. 17th they will be performing in an enormous and highly anticipated open-air concert in Central Park.