Top Polish officials are to take part in a Catholic Mass dedicated to Poland's regained independence and in a special changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Warsaw on Thursday morning.
Polish President Andrzej Duda and First Lady Agata Kornhauser-Duda are expected to lay wreaths at monuments to Józef Piłsudski, Wincenty Witos, Roman Dmowski and Ignacy Paderewski, statesmen, leaders and fathers of Polish independence.
Poland’s Defence Ministry is to allow visitors into 103 military facilities across the country, as part of its “Honour for Uniform Day” campaign.
Polish Defence Minister Mariusz Błaszczak said the drive aims to honour Polish soldiers and border guards who are “defending the country’s borders,” amid a growing migrant and humanitarian crisis at Poland's eastern frontier.
The Independence March is also planned in Warsaw and thousands of police will be patrolling the streets.
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 helps organise some of these events.
On the eve of Independence Day, some of Poland’s popular and talented musicians, including Kasia Moś and Stanisław Soyka, took 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 also paid tribute to Poland’s most famous composer, Fryderyk Chopin, will be rebroadcast by Polish Radio on November 11.
Poland regained independence on November 11, 1918, the day World War I ended, after 123 years of partition by Russia, Austria and Prussia.
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Source: PAP