Jewish Festival

The Jewish Culture Festival in Krakow is the largest presentation of contemporary culture created by Jews around the world.

In 1988, Janusz Makuch and Krzysztof Gierat decided to remind the public of Poland’s Jewish history and the contribution of Jews to the development of our country, its culture and society. It was a successful attempt to restore the memory of Polish Jews and commemorate those who, having lived in Poland for centuries, were either murdered during the Holocaust or forced to emigrate in the postwar years.

From an intimate event, the FKŻ has grown to become one of the most important cultural events in our city and country, one of the best known outside Poland. It is one of the best-associated brands of our city.

Each year the festival presents almost 200 events (in the main and accompanying programs), and gathers about 30,000 people from all over the world to participate in workshops, lectures, discussions, tours and, of course, concerts and other musical events.

150 artists, lecturers and instructors share with our audience their experiences and achievements in developing Jewish culture. Authenticity and truth are our most important values.

The FKJ aims to showcase the diversity and beauty of Jewish culture from around the world. The main point of reference is Israel, where it develops most naturally.

Festival Tent, photo: Michał Ramus
Welcoming Shabbat: concert by Maya Belsitzman and Matan Ephrat, photo: Michał Ramus
Festival Tent, photo: Wojciech Krysiak
Maqamat Ensemble, photo: Wojciech Krysiak
Presentation by Monika Krajewska, photo: Edyta Dufaj
Lecture by Janusz Makuch, photo: Edyta Dufaj
Voices of Yemen, photo: Michał Ramus
Meeting with Yakov Mayer, moderation: Karolina Przewrocka-Aderet, photo: Edyta Dufaj
photo: Michał Ramus
Concert by Jarosław Bester, photo: Wojciech Krysiak
Klezmer Shabbat Dance Party, photo: Edyta Dufaj
Hebrew alphabet workshop with Ewa Gordon, photo: Edyta Dufaj
Maqamat Ensemble, photo: Michał Ramus
Gaga workshop with Natalia Iwaniec, photo: Edyta Dufaj

The most famous, even iconic, festival event is the Shalom on Szeroka Street concert.

On Saturday night, the plaza in front of the Old Synagogue is filled with more than 10,000 people who attend the six hours long concert, which The New York Times called once a Jewish Woodstock.

Janusz Makuch,
creator and director of the FKŻ:

The JCF annually presents the state of contemporary Jewish culture created in all corners of the world. The program is fully arbitrary – it shows our personal vision of a living culture, full of surprising transformations over time, growing from diverse sources of inspiration and inspiring artists of many other cultures.

 

We respect the past in its pure form, but we follow where the Avant-Garde collides with Tradition. The most interesting phenomena take place outside the walls of cultural open-air museums and never flatter the expectations of the majority.

Since 1988, we have been presenting a mostly unruly minority of Jewish artists who, drawing wisely and boldly from the past, are opening a new chapter in one of the world’s oldest and most interesting cultures.

The festival is proof that history and modernity, dogmatism and heresy can exist side by side, without which all cultural progress would be impossible.

The paradox is that by constantly going against the tide, we go with the times and even ahead of them! We are changing. The older we get – the younger we get.

Our language of communication with the world is changing, because the world itself is changing at a dizzying pace. That is why we speak to you in a new language – the language of images, gestures and sounds. We share, in a surprising way, knowledge that is not at all secret, and introduce you to the world of music, which, whether inspired by the Bible, rock, klezmer, Afrobeat or a thousand other sources, reflects Jewish modernity and modern life.

Almost everything has been said in culture, almost everything has already been done. That’s why we are constantly looking for new forms of artistic expression for the fundamental truths and values of Jewish life. And also to find that “almost” someday.

 

The Jewish Culture Festival in Krakow is a mirror in which everything that determines the rhythm and place of Jewish culture in the world is reflected and focused. In the modern world. We have been at the center of this world for more than three decades.

 

In 2012, at the invitation of the Jewish Culture Festival, Israeli multi-instrumentalist and video artist Kutiman shot a video entitled “Thru Krakow” to promote the Jewish Culture Festival in Krakow. It was part of his “Thru the City” project, in which he presents Jerusalem, New York and Tokyo.

 

More information about the activities of the Festival
can be found in the menu at the bottom of the page,
and current information – in our social media.