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Easter in Krakow
(15 - 25.04.2011)

We invite you to participate in the Easter Fair, which will take place in the Main Market Square in Kraków. The Easter Fair is a valuable part of Kraków's tradition, appreciated by the local inhabitants as well as numerous Polish and foreign tourists, who have been visiting our country for many years, with the sole purpose of participating in the Fair. As every year, the intention is to create the atmosphere which accompanies Easter, by presenting customes and tradition from various parts of Małopolska region, along with selling traditional goods connected with celebrating Easter. See more at: http://kiermasze.com.pl/

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Photomonth
(13.05. - 12.06.2011)

The Photomonth in Krakow is one of Europe’s most important photography events and in Poland it has achieved the status of one of Poland’s largest ongoing cultural events. It is one of few occasions to come across photography as a contemporary art, and to see its wealth of contexts and the subjects it tackles, often undermining the stereotypical image of a given country or society – this year Great Britain.  
Photomonth in Krakow has been going on since 2002. The success of this undertaking is much assisted by its location: Krakow, the cultural capital of Poland. This is a city with extraordinary traditions, brimming with creative ferment – if only because of its large student population and its artistic traditions. It is in this atmospheric place, this great tourist destination, that photography exhibitions are shown on a grand scale every year. Photomonth fits the space perfectly, it even takes over the town, which lives and breathes the festival. The key partners of the festival are domestic and foreign ministries, and the most important cultural institutions of several countries.

See more at: http://www.photomonth.com/

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Misteria Paschalia
(18 - 25.04.2011)

Misteria Paschalia is a festival presenting music for the Holy Week and Easter, performed by masters of period playing. First held in 2004, the event takes place in Cracow from Holy Wednesday to Easter Sunday and includes concerts and Passion mystery plays. So far concerts have featured such significant vocal and instrumental works as Alessandro Scarlatti's, Giovanni Battista Pergolesi's and Antonio Vivaldi's "Stabat Mater", Antonio Caldara's "La passione di Gesu Cristo Signor Nostro" and Gian Francesco de Majo's oratory "Gesu sotto il peso della croce". See more at: www.misteriapaschalia.com

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4^th Film Music Festival

(19 - 22.05.2011)

The Festival of Film Music in Krakow, organised by the Krakow Festival Office and RMF Classic has been entirely dedicated to music created for the needs of picture. The unique combination of the highest quality of interpretation of film music performed by leading musicians and orchestras, in combination with high quality of film picture, decides on the uniqueness of the event. The programme of the venture puts its stakes on genre diversity: from reviews of retrospect and exclusive ceremonial concerts in performance, through monographic concerts of chosen and distinguished composers of film music, and finally at mass shows in the open. See more at: www.fmf.fm

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Krakow Museum Night
(20.05.2011)

The first Museum Night was organised in Krakow in 2004, following the example of the Berlin “Lange Nacht der Museen”. The idea behind it is to make museums available to the public on a chosen night in May – it’s already been a tradition to organise the Museum Night in the middle of May on a Friday/Saturday night. Every year the programme evolves around a central idea, such as “The Past of the Future” (2006), “90th Anniversary of Poland’s Regaining Independence” (2008) or “Krakow Museums of the 21st Century” (2009). The organisers always prepare special attractions such as showpiece lessons conducted in museums, workshops for children and adults, knights’ tournaments, multimedia presentations and concerts held in period interiors.

See more at: http://www.krakowskienoce.pl/en/

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Krakow Singing Week
(28.05. - 05.06.2011)

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Selector Festival
(03 - 04.06.2011)

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11^th The Great Dragon's Parade
(04 - 05.06.2011)

The Great Dragons’ Parade is an annual outdoor event for a wide audience, attracting several dozens of spectators each time. Over a thousand children from all over Poland participate in each parade, operating the dragons they have made themselves. A colorful pageant, accompanied with music and dragon roaring, walks along the streets of Cracow. It is surrounded by dancers, music bands, knights and princesses, stilt-walkers, jugglers and other artists. The culmination of the event is a sound-and-light show of the Vistula River, where music, light, smokes, laser shows, fireworks and huge blown-up dragons dancing on the water offer a breathtaking spectacle for both residents and tourists who come here from all over the world especially for this event.

See more at: http://www.paradasmokow.pl/

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Opera Rara: Antonio Vivaldi – Orlando furioso
(05.06.2011)

The City of Krakow values opera as an ambitious art form and is aware of the city being perceived as one to offer a complete cultural experience. It is therefore starting a joint initiative opera series named Opera Rara with the Małopolska Province.

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Kraków Theatre Night
(18.06.2011)

Organised since 2007, following on from the example of Museum Night, Theatre Night aims to stimulate acting circles and encourage the public to explore various theatrical forms. Its programme includes the presentation of the most interesting performances of the season; dance theatres and street shows, as well as theatre workshops and meetings with actors. It also makes backstage areas and dressing rooms that are usually inaccessible open to the public. There are many non-verbal performances, which makes it easier for foreign visitors to approach and interpret them.
The presentations are held at the stages of both institutional and non-institutional theatres, in various halls, cellars, gardens, and the biggest squares in Krakow.Theatre Night is extremely popular among both local audiences and theatre enthusiasts from all over Europe.

See more at: http://www.krakowskienoce.pl/en/

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Midsummer Night Celebration – Wianki
(25.06.2011)

An ancient festival that dates back to Pagan times, Wianki literally means 'wreaths' and it is a traditional midsummer celebration that remembers St John. Polish girls wear wreaths of flowers with a lighted candle in the centre and then throw them into the Visitula River. According to folklore, if the wreath comes back to shore, the girl will never marry, if it sinks, she will die young and if it flows down the river, she will be married and be happy. Thankfully, it is a fast flowing river and most girls go away happy. There is also live music and a fireworks display.

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21^st Jewish Culture Festival

In Cracow is one of the most important and largest events of its kind in the world. The First Festival took place in 1988 and its program focused on a scholarly conference on the encounter between two cultures, Jewish and Polish. It was a modest occasion but it turned out to have enormous significance, considering the boldness of the subject matter, upon which the communist authorities of the day looked askance. In its present form, the Festival not only introduces the living Jewish tradition to a wide audience, but also offers a share of the joy in creating that tradition. Workshops in Hasidic dance and song, klezmology, Hebrew calligraphy, Jewish paper cutting and cooking, conducted by people from both Ashkenazy and Sephardic culture, attract numerous learners. Every year, the Festival puts on over 100 events featuring dozens of performers and thousands of participants from all over the world. During the most recent Festival, 13,000 people attended "Shalom on ulica Szeroka," the grand finale concert. The number of Festival guests grows from year to year, and television coverage brings the Festival to viewers across Poland and Europe and around the world. To all of them, we address the main idea of the Festival: dialogue as a pathway to mutual respect and understanding. Each year, the Festival's celebration of life commemorates the past, traces of which can still be found in Kazimierz, Cracow , and Poland .

The Festival is a span of the symbolic bridge where Poles and Jews meet to strengthen the process of understanding and reconciliation. The Jewish Culture Festival in Cracow is, after all, a symbol of tolerance, pluralism, and the faith that we have a chance, through the celebration of Jewish culture and the celebration of life, to build mutual relations based on truth and respect.

See more at: http://www.jewishfestival.pl/

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16th Summer Jazz Festiwal at Piwnica Pod Baranami
(03 – 31.07.2011)

Summer Jazz Festival was organized for the first time in 1996 during celebration of the 40th anniversary of the Piwnicy pod Baranami. Witold Wnuk - founder and director of the Festival inspired by legendary Piotr Skrzynecki, has presented during July a cycle of everyday concerts at the Piwnica club. Each year the Festival expanded presentions beside 31 everyday concert at the Piwnica club for more additional events at the Krakow's Philharmonics, Krakow’s Opera, Radio Krakow auditorium, theaters, art galleries and open air concerts on the Main Market and the Archeological Museum grounds. See more at: www.cracjazz.com/

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(15 - 24.07.2011)

This exceptional festival is the only one to promote works developed in Poland on such a broad scale. Following the organiser's intention, Polish and primarily foreign performers introduce works of Polish composers into their repertoires for good after the festival concerts, in this way helping to promote them all over the world. Presented here are not only the best-known pieces, but also works that have been forgotten – in which case they appear as historical premieres – and new pieces ordered especially for the needs of the festival. So far, the constellation of brightest stars shining over the festival has included the Kronos Quartet, Academy of St Martin in the Fields, London Sinfonietta, Nigel Kennedy, Elżbieta Chojnacka, Jonathan Plowright, Grigori Zhislin, and Ivo Pogorelić. The number of frequent guests of the festival includes the eminent composers Krzysztof Penderecki, Wojciech Kilar, Henryk Mikołaj Górecki, and Paweł Mykietyn. See more at: www.fmp.org.pl

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Kraków Jazz Night
(16.07.2011)

The event was inaugurated on the occasion of the 750th anniversary of Krakow’s Act of Location. From the very beginning it focused on presenting various European jazz genres in order to familiarise the audience with the latest developments in free jazz as performed by leading artists in Europe and the world. See more at: www.nocjazzu.com

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7^th International Festival of Argentinian Tango
(08 – 15.08.2011)

We invite you to a tango week in an international company!
Workshops for beginners, milongas, classes with teachers from Argentina, live music ... Unexpected meetings, emotions and dventure! TANGO!
“Puente del Tango" means "Tango Bridge". 

A bridge connecting the strangers, leading to the unusual world of tango. The world of dance, music, art, intense emotions, a different culture and a new way of life. We want to show you this world ... at least a little. 

See more at: http://puentedeltango.art.pl/

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Cracovia Sacra Night
(14-16.08.2011)

On this night some of the most beautiful churches, as well as monasteries and convents in Krakow and its surroundings that are usually inaccessible, are opened to the general public, making it possible for them to discover church monuments, treasures and the arcana of monastic life.

See more at: http://www.krakowskienoce.pl

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35^th Music in Old Cracow International Festival
(15 -31.08.2011)

The Festival is presently one of the oldest and most important music projects not only in Cracow but also in Poland. Its main purpose is to fill the summer holidays gap in Cracow's cultural life and to use music to help the tourists better appreciate the charm of the town's historical buildings. Depending on the kind of music, on each of the seventeen Festival days concerts are played in different historical interiors of churches, museums, in the courtyard of the Wieliczka Salt Mine, at the Wawel Royal Castle and at the Philharmonic.

The concert programmes and musicians are selected so as to present the varied culture of Cracow's heritage. Concerts of early music always go hand in hand with performances of more recent or contemporary pieces, and the stars of European and world stages appear side by side with Polish musicians.

So far the Festival has hosted such renowned artists as Henryk Szeryn, Schlomo Mintz, Grigorij Zhyslin, Jordi Savall, Ivan Monighetti, Paul Esswood, Gwedolyn Bradley, Emma Kirkby, Andrzej Hiolski, Fou Tsong, Malcolm Frager, Jeffrey Swann, Christopher Hoogwood, Rafael Puyana, Ida Haendel, Witold Rowicki, and the ensembles: Philharmonia Quartett Berlin, Hilliard Ensemble, Anonymous 4, Borodin Quartet, Europa Galante and many others.

See more at: http://www.cappellacracoviensis.pl

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9^th Sacrum Profanum Festival
(11–18.09.2011)

Steve Reich. One of the most renowned American composers of the twentieth century. He has been called by the New York Times “our greatest living composer”. The Guardian writes that “There’s just a handful of living composers who can legitimately claim to have altered the direction of musical history and Steve Reich is one of them.” From his early works with voice recording to his collaborations with the artist Beryl Korot, the digital video opera Three Tales, the development of Reich’s work has encompassed not only aspects of Western music, but also influences from Africa, Far East and jazz forms. See more at: www.sacrumprofanum.com

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6^th Krakow Jazz Fall
(27.09 – 09.12.2011)

Krakow Jazz Fall Festival was recognized by the Polish musical critics as the jazz landmark of last two years. The Festival in the very meaningfull way is broadening the offer of cultural events of Poland and Krakow.
For this year`s edition, the third one, there are 24 concerts, from which over a half will be presented for the first time in Poland or prepared specially for this Festival.

See more at: http://www.alchemia.com.pl/

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Unsound was established in 2003 in Krakow, Poland, as a festival of advanced music. Starting out as an underground event, in recent years the festival has grown in size and name. Unsound currently produces an annual festival in Krakow at the end of October each year, and in spring 2011 will produce the second Unsound Festival New York, with local producers, curators, venues and cultural institutes in that city. Also with local partners, Unsound has created smaller events in Prague, Warsaw, Bratslava, Kiev, and Minsk, the capital of Belarus. Unsound is interested in the idea of cross border  collaboration, and thinking of the festival as a tool for commmissioning and fostering new work. As well as this, Unsound is focused on promoting music from Poland and generally the region east of Berlin. Unsound's roots go back even further than Poland, though, to the small Australian country city of Wagga Wagga, Australia. The first Unsound event took place here, with a different organization team, many moons ago. Today, Unsound in Wagga Wagga no longer exists, but the name lives on, in the form of the Polish festival, which has its own trajectory and profile. See more at: www.unsound.pl

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(16 – 23.10.2011)
International Royal Cracow Piano Festival is the first cultural event taking place in Krakow, which is fully devoted to piano music. The main idea of the Festival is to present piano masters and young adepts of piano art experiencing their musical careers and what is more, laureates of prestigious International Piano Competitions: Frederic Chopin in Warsaw, Van Cliburn in Fort Worth, and Tchaikovsky in Moscow. The main objective of the Festival is to encourage the world piano elite to visit and perform in Krakow. Krakow has become the cradle of great piano traditions. The Festival organised by young generation of pianists, graduates of the Academy of Music in Krakow is directed strictly to resurrect old traditions, shaping and giving them new artistic look. See more at: www.festiwalpianistyczny.pl

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Christmas Market & Christmas Crib Competition
(25.11 – 26.12.2011)

The Kraków Nativity Scenes is a unique style of art in the whole World. Its form has been formalized in 19th century Kraków, between bricklayers and contractors, looking for some extra income during Autumn/Winter time.
Building of portable puppet show, with Holy Family located on the first floor of Marquette with many towers and turrets and containing elements specific for old Kraków's architecture was quite popular hobby before the First World War. This custom abandoned in the 1920s and 1930s until 1937, when people keen on Kraków's tradition organized First Kraków's cribs contest. Since then, excluding short break during Second World War, the custom lasted until today and it keeps growing.
Every year on first Thursday of December before noon around Adam Mickiewicz monument in the Main Square crib makers are gathering to show their newest crafts. Crowd of Kraków citizens, families, tourists and TV camera operators' teams surrounds them.

Museum (which organizes contest since 1945) employees are registering applications. Each crib has got unique own registration number.

All cribs are quite picturesque. For many years, number of applications is quite stable - between 120 and 160, where most of applications are crafts made by children and teenagers.

At the midday, when a bugle call is played at St. Mary's church's tower, crib makers are taking their crafts to Museum at Krzysztofory Palace, where Jury of the contest is located. Jury is being lead by Museum's Director and it employs ethnologists, art historians, artists, employees of Historical and Ethnographical Museums.

See more at: http://mhk.pl/wydarzenia_cykliczne/konkurs_szopek_krakowskich