Warsaw, Poland » Entertainment » Festivals

Forty days before Lent, the Carnival festival rolls on. Dancing, food feasting and limitless drinks. This event is held in many different venues around town. Whether the partying takes place at home, in hotels or nightclubs, they all merrily take part in the Carnival before it ends on Ash Wednesday.

Month: March

To keep traditions burning alive, one must burn the doll called Marzanna, which is a representation of an evil witch. A strong influence of Slavic pagan customs, setting the doll on fire and throwing it into the waters will 'perish' winter and welcome upcoming spring. It is a fun festival that is still being celebrated throughout Poland, especially among children.

Month: March

Every year before Easter, Poland celebrates one of the world's most renowned composers, Ludwig van Beethoven. A grand musical event is produced and participated by great conductors, soloists, majestic performers with a lavish orchestra.

Address: Chmielna 15/10 Street, 00-021 Warsaw

Tel: + 48 22 331 91 91

Month: March / April

Palm Sunday (Niedziela Palmowa) is a Christian tradition commemorating Jesus Christ's passage to Jerusalem. Twigs and branches are painted, adorned with flowers and ribbons, and blessed by priests during religious processions. After Palm Sunday, Holy Week kicks off. Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday are well observed in customary manners. Easter Sunday celebrates the resurrection of Christ. Churches hold Holy Masses throughout the day, feasts and offering of baskets filled with traditional symbolic foods are practiced. Lamb, as symbol of Christ; Meat, as traditional Polish delicacy; Salt, which prevents food turning sour, as the Passion of Christ; Bread, the most important of all, symbolizing Corpus Christi; and finally the Egg, painted in colorful designs, for abundance in life, love, fertility and strength.

Month: March / April

Each year, a touching ceremony takes place every 19th of April when hundreds of people bring flowers to the Warsaw Ghetto Heroes Monument and the Umschlagplatz Monument. Flowers symbolize the fight of insurgents against Nazi soldiers in 1943, when Nazi troops captured 400,000 Jews and placed them in a ghetto which they set up in Warsaw. Over hundreds and thousands died during the war, some were burnt alive, while some insurgent leaders committed suicide.

Month: April 19th

The Warsaw Chamber Opera oversees more than 20 Mozart stage productions during Mozart Festival. The only opera house in the world to offer Mozart's entire operatic output, Warsaw Chamber Opera presents selections of Mozart's chamber, symphonic, and vocal-instrumental pieces during the festival.

Where: Warsaw Chamber Opera

Address: ul. Nowogrodzka 49, 00-695 Warsaw

Tel: + 48 22 6283 096

Month: June

Slaska Noc Swietojanska or Midsummer's Eve is the longest day of the year, celebrated in Warsaw, and in all of Poland. The Midsummer Market is set up, complete with hot drinks and warm food. There are period-costume contests, free concerts, feasting, drunken merriment and dancing. During this festival girls and some boys wear garlands of flowers on their heads, while a big garland of flowers is sent off floating on Vistula River. Over 100,000 people participate in this event. The night is capped with a rainbow of fireworks and musicals, which often features popular artists and bands.

Location: Warsaw

Month: June

International performers visit Warsaw to be part of one of the best musical events of the city. The Warsaw Autumn Festival features concerts, orchestras, operas and soloists. Lectures, conventions, exhibitions, conferences are also tied in with the event for a targeted audience. The festival takes place in different institutions and is simultaneously celebrated in churches, universities, radio stations, museums and orchestra houses.

Location: different institutions in Warsaw

Month: September

Polish films have long caused an influential stir in cinema's all over the world. Famous producers, like Roman Polanski, started out in Warsaw's film fests. Witness as up and coming directors and actors wow the crowd with original, raw and sometimes deeply troubling cinematic twists.

Location: participating Warsaw theaters

Month: October

Each year, the Christmas season is celebrated in Warsaw with colourful market stalls set up all over the Old Town. With baskets full of overflowing souvenirs, trinkets, honey, pudding, cheeses, cakes and more, it is but a frosting to the big bite of the Christmas season. A tall Christmas Tree is put up every year in the center of Zamkowy Square. Christmas lights guide night strollers as locals and tourists spread the joy of the coming Christmas day.

Location: Old Town, Warsaw

Month: December