Presenting the official programme of the celebrations, Deputy Prime Minister and Culture Minister Piotr Gliński (pictured) said on Wednesday they were designed to strengthen a sense of community among the population.
“The national holiday entices us to reflect on our history, on who we are and where we’ve come from,” he said, as quoted by public broadcaster Polish Radio’s IAR news agency.
“It’s that time when we are all together and the Polish community is strengthened,” he added.
"We are the Polish people, we are the Polish nation and the celebration of Polish independence is very important to all of us,” Gliński told a news conference.
He said that one of the centrepiece events this year would see people sing the national anthem together in hundreds of places around the country and abroad.
In videos announcing the initiative, some of Poland’s best track-and-field athletes have been urging compatriots to join in.
Retired shot putter Tomasz Majewski, a two-time Olympic champion, said: “I encourage everyone to sing the anthem on Independence Day. Let’s be proud of our anthem, let’s feel the togetherness and let’s sing together.”
Another key event scheduled for November 11 is the Niepodległa (Independent) Festival, which will be held on one of Warsaw’s most iconic streets, Krakowskie Przedmieście.
As part of the festival, an array of domestic pop stars will perform their songs on Warsaw University’s campus, while on the opposite side of the street, there will be workshops, plays and concerts for children and families, officials said.
Public broadcaster Polish Radio will help organise some of these events.
Meanwhile, Polish folk dances will be showcased at Gliński’s Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.
Warsaw's Krakowskie Przedmieście Street will also host various music and dance parades, as well as a celebration of the fashions of the interwar period, among other attractions, the IAR news agency reported.
On the eve of Independence Day, some of Poland’s popular and talented musicians, including Kasia Moś and Stanisław Soyka, will take to the stage at Warsaw’s National Theatre to perform the works of the celebrated singer-songwriter, Czesław Niemen, inspired by 19th-century Romantic poet Cyprian Kamil Norwid.
The concert, which will also pay tribute to Poland’s most famous composer, Fryderyk Chopin, will be rebroadcast by Polish Radio on November 11, IAR reported.
(pm/gs)
Source: IAR