Yes, it’s right now! In July, you can’t help but stumble across events held in the city space – in the centre, on Wawel Hill, at the Basilica of St Mary, at the Barbican, and further afield from Podgórze to Nowa Huta… Summer picnics are in full swing, Boulev[art] is about to start at the Nowa Huta Reservoir, and festivals spill out from Cracovian interiors to the city’s streets and squares. Speaking of which, the perennial favourite 32nd ULICA festival brings circus acrobatics to the city and the hot folky energy of EtnoKraków/Crossroads resounds with trance and dance rhythms from three continents. Dance of a more distinguished kind comes from the Cracovia Danza ensemble during the Court Dance Festival, while the Summer Jazz Festival Kraków and Jazz Night bring syncopated sounds to clubs throughout the city.
And there is more inspiration! The long-awaited performance by Philippe Jaroussky is the latest instalment of the ICE Classic cycle. The Festival of Polish Music celebrates Moniuszko Year, while the programme of the Sinfonietta Cracovia’s festival boldly intertwines compositions by Paderewski with American minimalism and works by Gershwin. The Kraków Branch of the Association of Polish Artists and Designers hosts a series of exhibitions under the banner DIALOGUES, while the exhibition accompanying the Congress of the International Association of Music Libraries, Archives and Documentation Centres presents treasures from the collection of the Jagiellonian Library.
Let’s listen, watch, absorb!
Grzegorz Słącz
Editor-in-Chief
