Festival Spring 2023

The All Mazurkas of the World Festival
Warsaw, 26 – 29 April 2023

The spring festival All the Mazurkas of the World 2023 ran from 26th to 29th April. It was filled with joyful fun, for the older, younger and children, which, by the way, allowed to discover new areas – i.e. to learn about old country music.
The young students (this year aged between 17 and 47) showed off their skills at the Old Tradition concert (April 26). This was the finale of the competition, which for 12 years has been selecting the best young singers and the best bands. The best not only technically, but also in terms of getting to the roots, understanding the language of music of the chosen region.

On Thursday (April 27), the music of southern Mazovia/northern Malopolska resounded on the festival stage. In the concert “Music from Szydłowiec,” a region where bands with pedal harmonies, fiddles and barabans still play to dance, we heard the Adamczyk brothers’ band (once a wedding band) and their students, who have now become partners of the masters.

The “Borderland without borders” concert (April 28) was filled with music from the northeastern region – from Suwalszczyzna, Grodno and neighboring regions of Belarus. The following bands performed: Pogranicze from Szypliszki, Chłopcy from Nowoszyszki, Kapela Koliśnija from Minsk and the band Poniemnie, which sang repertoire brought from the Nemunas basin areas.

The All Mazurkas of the World Festival is a paradise for dance enthusiasts. People danced after concerts at dances in festival clubs, during dance workshops and finally during Saturday’s hot Dance Night. There are hundreds of people willing to dance, and the number keeps growing. During the Night of Dance, bands from many regions of Poland as well as Austria, Ukraine (Hudaki Village Band, US Orchestra), Sweden and Belarus played.

A colorful part of the festival for years has been the Instrument Market (Saturday, April 29). From 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the Fortress at 12 Zakroczymska Street, one could admire the works of nearly 120 exhibitors, including those from Poland, Slovakia, Germany, Latvia, Belarus and Ukraine – traditional, historical, reconstructed instruments as well as original inventions. Among them were dulcimers, bagpipes, hurdy gurdys, pedal harmonies, shawms, ocarinas, ligavettes, as well as – harpsichords, spinets, celesta. There was much to delight in.

For the youngest, Little Mazurkas was prepared – games, music, stories, this time under the motto – “Do it yourself”. Cutouts, paper flowers and an animated film were created. At the State Ethnographic Museum (April 27) and during the Instrument Fair (April 29). On Saturday, 3 numerous groups of musical children – Merry Mazurkas from Prague, Orchestra of Joy and Krajeczka – played at the Fortress. This is the best testimony to the multi-generational appeal of traditional music.

Festival locations:
Center for Promotion of Culture in Praga Południe District, 2 Podskarbinska St.
Terminal Kultury, 24 Jana Nowaka-Jeziorańskiego St.
Forteca Kręgliccy, 12 Zakroczymska Street
State Ethnographic Museum, 1 Kredytowa St.
Sinfonia Varsovia, 272 Grochowska St.

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Honorary Patronage of the President of the Republic of Poland Andrzej Duda.
Media patrons: TVP Kultura, PR Dwójka and RCKL, RDC radio, MuzykaTradycyjna.pl
Partners: Terminal Kultury Gocław, Centre for Promotion of Culture Praga Południe, Forteca Kręgliccy, State Ethnographic Museum in Warsaw, Sinfonia Varsovia, Wytwórnia Filmów Oświatowych
Co-financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage from the Fund for Promotion of Culture; the project is co-financed by the City of Warsaw.

Photo gallery: Spring 2023