Polish Festival Fed Square 2023

 

 

Bringing a taste of Poland to the heart of Melbourne

The Polish Festival @ Fed Square is a celebration of Polish culture in Melbourne. It is Australia’s largest annual Polish not-for-profit community event. All the Polish entertainment, hospitality, and cuisine in one place on the one day.

From its inception, the Festival’s aim has been to bring a taste of Poland to Melbourne. We want to showcase Polish culture to the greater Victorian population via one event on the Polish community calendar that caters to all demographics whilst brings all Polish community groups together.

Our aim is to ignite a little bit of the Polish in everyone who visits our festival.

 

Check out our Festival guide to see all of the things that will be happening at the Polish Festival @ Fed Square on Sunday!

Polish Festival Booklet 2023 (.PDF – 5 Mb)
Polish Festival Booklet 2023 (.PDF – 12 Mb)
Polish Festival Booklet 2023 (.PDF – 76 Mb)

 

Main Stage Program – 2023

10:00 am Festival Welcome – Dani Paszkiewicz, Daniel Bolkunowicz

10:05 am Children’s Program

      – Polish Saturday School, Rowville (Marshal Józef Piłsudski) – Polska Szkoła Jest Wesoła – Polish School is Cheerful
      – Melbourne Polish Children’s and Youth Choir
      – Polish School in Albion (Świętego Jana Pawła II) – W Wiosennym Nastroju / In a Spring Mood
      – Polish Saturday School, Essendon (Maria Konopnicka) – Legendarny Krakow / Legendary Krakow
      – Polish Saturday School, South Melbourne (Tadeusz Kosciuszko) – W Krainie Bajek / In the Land of Fairy Tales
      – Melbourne Polish Children’s and Youth Choir
      – Polish Saturday School, St Albans (Mikołaja Kopernika)- Celebrating 550 Years Since the Birth of Copernicus

11:35 am Late Morning Entertainment

       – The Rawdanowicz Family Band – Medley of Polish Songs
       – Sylvia Styczeń – Vocalist
       – Lowicz Polish Vocal – Dance Ensemble (Melbourne) – Choir performance

12:30 pm Folkloric Entertainment

       – Lehenda Ukrainian Dance Company

1:00 pm Official Opening of the Polish Festival @ Fed Square

1:30 pm Folkloric Entertainment

      – Lowicz Polish Vocal – Dance Ensemble (Melbourne)
      – Polonez Song and Dance Ensemble, Melbourne

3:05 pm Dance Workshop with Jacqui Paszkiewicz

3:20 pm Afternoon Entertainment

       – The Polish Extravaganza Band
       – Victor Janisiow and band
       – Artur Gotz (Poland)
       – DJ Mark

5:00 pm Official close of the Festival

     5:30 pm Mass at St. Augustine Parish, 631 Bourke Street, Melbourne

All day  Richard Stacewicz – Accordion, Yarra Terrace

 

The Edge Program – 2023

11:00 am Winners of the PolMusicA Competition

11:45 am Konrad Olszewski – Piano Recital (P. Gringer, N. Kapustin, F. Chopin)

12:00 pm Artur Gotz (Poland)

      – Green Nikola and Other Songs – Musical Concert for Children

1:00 pm Official Opening of the Polish Festival @ Fed Square – Main Stage

1:30 pm Zosia Kaszubska and Gosia Kaszubska

      Acclaimed Melbourne vocal ensemble Tsinskaro share the traditional folk songs of Poland and Georgia

2:00 pm Friends of Chopin Australia – Part I – Paderewski Tour 2023

      – Orava Quartet (Australia) & Aleksandra Świgut (Poland) – Chopin, Penderecki & Kilar

2:45 pm Clinch Saxophone Quartet

      – Tribute to Tomasz Śpiewak (Polish Composer in Australia)

3:15 pm Friends of Chopin Australia – Part II – Paderewski Tour 2023

      – Orava Quartet (Australia) & Aleksandra Świgut (Poland) – Penderecki & Chopin

3:45 pm Opera Recital with Mezzo-Soprano Madeleine Turewicz

      – Accompanied by Dana Czarski on piano

4:00 pm Musical Presentation of the Rawdanowicz Family Band & Chopin Jazz Ensemble

      – Medley of Polish Songs

4:45 pm Polish Literature in Australia

      – Video presentation of the literary works by Sci-fi writer Jan Maszczyszyn

5:00 pm Evening Gala Concert

      – The Polish Extravaganza Band Iconic Polish hits from the last six decades

5:30 pm Na zakończenie Polskiego Festiwalu na Fed Square w kościele św. Augustyna przy 631 Bourke St. w City odprawiona zostanie polska Msza święta.
 
      W tym historycznym kościele już w 1951 roku gromadzili się Polacy osiedlający się  po wojnie w Melbourne. W gościnnych murach tego niewielkiego kościoła znaleźli swój duchowy dom zanim przenieśli się na stałe do kościoła Świętego Ignacego w Richmond. Dziś wracamy w jego mury, by podziękować Bogu za nasz Polski Festiwal i za całą Wiktoriańską Polonię.
 
 
GETTING THERE

PUBLIC TRANSPORT

For more information about train services, visit Public Transport Victoria.

Trams stopping at Fed Square

Route 1 – East Coburg to South Melbourne Beach Route 3 – Melbourne University to East Malvern Route 5 – Melbourne University to Malvern Route 6 – Melbourne University to Glen Iris Route 8 – Moreland to Toorak Route 16 – Melbourne University to Kew Route 64 – Melbourne University to East Brighton Route 67 – Melbourne University to Carnegie Route 70 – Bourke St Docklands to Wattle Park Route 72 – Melbourne University to Camberwell Route 75 – City (Spencer St) – Vermont South

For more information about tram services, visit Yarra Trams.

LOCATION

PARKING AT THE FESTIVAL

Fed Square Car Park

Accessed from Russell Street or Batman Ave (Exhibition Street extension – City Link)

For weekend and public holiday rates, please visit the Fed Square Parking Website for more information.

TAXIS

Taxis and picking up/dropping off passengers

If you are accessing Fed Square by taxi, the safest pick-up and drop off zone is the taxi rank directly across the road on Swanston Street (outside Flinders Street Station).

FED SQUARE BIKE RACKS

Swanston St (near Transport Hotel) 5 racks Flinders St (in front of ACMI) 13 racks Flinders St (in front of the National Design Centre) 7 racks Russell St (near the roundabout ) 6 racks River Terrace (near Zinc @ Fed Square) 5 racks Level 3 Car Park (west end) 15 racks

MOBILITY ASSISTANCE

To assist people with limited mobility, mobility equipment is available for hire. These include:

  • Electric scooters
  • Manual wheelchairs
  • Prams and strollers
  • Walking canes, frame, forearm crutches, walking sticks, and ID/Symbol Cane

Equipment can be hired from Travellers Aid Access Service (TAAS). For more details and prices please visit the Travellers Aid Access Service website.