Summer in the City…
Yoga in the park, outdoor cinemas and Chopin in Lazienki Park – for free – are just a taste of what Polish metropolitan areas have to offer their residents.
While summer means vacation for many, it also means balmy evenings with not much to do. Fortunately, Poland’s cities provide much in the way of free entertainment for those stuck in their metropolis.
Movies in the Park
Warsaw:
Starting on 23 June, the biggest outdoor cinema in Poland kicks off in Warsaw’s parks. For ten weeks, sixty feature films from all over the world will be shown in six different parks in the capital. Many of the movies will be premier publicly for the first time in Poland. Every night of the week (with the exception of Mondays) will feature a new film. Details are available soon on the website.
On Tuesdays, at Pole Mokotowskie, the movie theme will be ‘Bollywood’: movies filled with music, dance, color and Indian culture.
On Wednesdays, in the amphitheater of Park Sowinski, the best British comedies, including the Monty Python cycle, will be shown.
Thursdays, in Art Park Frascatti, by Buffo Theater, will feature French films.
Fridays, film buffs will have the opportunity to learn about Colombian films in Ogrod Saski, and there will be “meet and greets” with prominent directors Sergio Cabrera and Harold Trompetero, who are flying in for the movie festival to present their latest films.
On the weekends, starting with Saturday in Park Skaryszewski, there will be an ‘author’s cycle,’ that includes the most interesting films from Polish cinema of the past two-three years plus the world’s greatest classics. The movie that will kick off the event is Cinema Paradiso by Giuseppe Tornatore.
Sundays will feature a cycle of films from the Balkan region in Park Praski.
Poznan:
A similar idea in Stary Browar (‘Old Brewery’), in Poznan, will commence on 10 June at 9:30 pm. The first movie to be shown is The Big Blue directed by Luc Besson and will be presented on an original projector film tape. A number of movie classics will be presented throughout the summer until 28 August.
This festival takes place under the “Lato na Dziedzincu” program which also includes concerts.
Krakow:
This summer, Teatr Slowacki will host June-July movie viewings “under the stars” with a theme titled Paris-Moscow-Berlin Summer Traveling…in time. For the next three Mondays, starting 22 June – 6 July, the movies presented will be a ‘virtual journey’ through Europe before the 90’s.
To add to this theme, the movie soundtracks to the films will be presented and performed “live” by famous musicians in Krakow. For more information, see the website and entrance is free.
Yoga in the Park
An organized project called “Yoga in the Park” offers free yoga classes focusing on the joy of life and lessons on health and well being. The classes have already started in Warsaw at Pole Mokotowskie on 31 May, and on 7 June they started in Szczecin, northern Poland. Starting on 27 June there will be additional lessons held in Park Skaryszewski in the capital, and on 28 June, outdoor classes will begin in Bydgoszcz, Lodz, Krakow, Torun, and Wroclaw providing plenty of places to catch a moment of relaxation and zen, even if you live in the city.
50 Years of Chopin in the Park
Starting in May and going all the way to September, Chopin concerts are held in Warsaw’s Lazienki Krolewskie Park every Sunday. The concerts, given by world-class piano players, take place by the statute of Fryderyk Chopin and take place at noon and at four in the afternoon.
The high level of performers is guaranteed by the Fryderyk Chopin society that engages pianists from around the world for the whole concert season. The Chopin concert started on 16 May 2009 and the concerts include classical, jazz and rock interpretations of Chopin. For more information, check the website.
Summer with Opera
From 12 June until 5 July, the XIII Annual Summer Opera Festival in Krakow will take place. For the fourteen nights of the festival, the spectators will be able to see the most interesting positions of the Krakow Opera scene, an outdoor spectacle, and a musical sighting composed of Polish and world opera singers. The festival will also hold two spectacles Poland’s neighbours: one from the Czech Republic Gianni Schicchi/Suor Angelika and one from Slovakia, Madame Butterfly. The festival is set by Zamek Krolewski on Wawel hill and by the new Krakow Opera building. More information is available here. (mmk/mmj)
Source: http://polskieradio.pl/thenews/culture/artykul109854_summer_in_the_city_.html
If you happen to travel between the Baltic resort of Sopot and Zakopane in the Tatras by train this summer, you will have the chance to see several feature films, at no extra cost.
Last month we featured an article about an outdoor movie tour taking place in 
The story starts with the childhood of the priest, moves on to show his youth when he was drafted to the obligatory communist military service, becomes a priest and heroic chaplain of the Solidarity movement, who defies the regime by preaching the truth, peace and justice. The story is set against the historic background: nationwide strikes and freedom rallies brutally crushed by communists during the martial law.
