19th January – 3rd March 2024, Various events & locations, Aberdeen

The Polish-Scottish Mini Festival, organised by the Polish Association Aberdeen, proves that building a community based on combining very diverse cultural environments is possible.

Now in its seventh edition, the Polish-Scottish Mini Festival has been growing in popularity, attracting ts more and more viewers every year.

Open to everyone from all over Scotland and beyond, the festival combines a unique series of cultural events.

The highlights of the 2024 festival include an outdoor exhibition ‘Outlanders” at the Cruickshank Botanic Garden, a Polish-Scottish Celidh, folk & other music concerts, Polish-Scottish folk tradition workshops and the ’Polish Cinema Weekend with IFF Tofifest’’ (1-3 March) – a weekend of Polish cinema in Aberdeen, with special guest, director Jan Komasa. More details and ticket links for events below the poster:

From the organisers:

Many Poles have made Aberdeen their home, we are proud of our contribution to our granite city and proud of our identity. What’s more, we want to create a festival that celebrates Aberdeen as our city of choice, so that our friends, neighbours and colleagues can understand another culture, and in addition to that, people from other parts of the country will visit us to see our events.

The Polish-Scottish Mini Festival is not only fun, it is also a message of unity, openness and respect towards other cultures. We influence the cultural life of the Polish community, create and strengthen a positive image. It’ s an opportunity to build bridges between different communities and celebrate our diversity. The organisers are immensely proud of this annual event, which has already become a permanent fixture in the cultural calendar in Aberdeen.

Friday 19th January 2024, ”Svahy”at the Blue Lamp club, doors open from 8pm

”Svahy” are three girls from the city who fell in love with traditional folk music. They discovered folk songs from the picturesquely situated land of Pałuki and from Kuyavia (little explored by folk artists or traditional musicians), where the wind carries stories from village to village. The ”Svahy” play unique instruments and sing stories from the lives of former villagers. The song “O, moja wianku lavenderowy” is the first single promoting the EP “roz kiedyś”. Performers: Patrycja Cywińska-Gacka – hoop drum, vocals; Ewa Pater – Biłgoraj suka, mandolin, guitar, vocals Małgorzata Żurańska-Wilkowska – hurdy-gurdy, vocals. 

The group recorded music for the recently released ‘’Forgotten Love’’ Netflix movie.

Link to tickets: Svahy @ Polish-Scottish Mini Festival Tickets, Fri 19 Jan 2024 at 20:00 | Eventbrite

Saturday, January 20th 2024 from 6pm at the Pittodrie Stadium – ”Polish-Scottish Ceilidh”

This is the second and most integrative element of the festival. We will celebrate the birthday of the Scottish poet Robert Burns with Polish and Scottish dances, and traditional Polish dishes will be served along with traditional Scottish dishes (haggis, neeps, tatties). The ceilidh band “Danse MaCabre” will play Ceilidh and Polish dances, an event with a special guest performance of ‘’Svahy’’.

Link to tickets: Polish-Scottish Ceilidh Tickets, Sat 20 Jan 2024 at 18:00 | Eventbrite

Sunday 21st January, from 11am, on the grounds of the University of Aberdeen in the MacRobert Building, Drama Room, 6th floor – ‘Workshop of Polish and Scottish Traditions’

The third event will be a workshop on Polish and Scottish traditions. Musicians of Scottish Culture & Traditions will present Scottish traditional dances, Polish Svahy, and Polish-Scottish Song and Story Group Polish and Scottish traditional songs. We invite parents, children, grandparents, everyone curious about our Polish and Scottish tradition. Admission. We will play to the rhythm of the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity for our friends from the staff in Aberdeen and we have the honour to take part in the 32nd Final.

February 3, 2024, Happysad will perform at Lemon Tree at 8:00 p.m.

Happysad is one of the most recognisable Polish rock bands.Gruopa was established in Skarżysko-Kamienna, and its beginnings date back to 2001. Their music suits both older generations and students. They played over 1000 concerts and received five platinum and three gold records. Their music has accompanied people for generations. Their concerts are attended by a lot of people, and the band itself has become a permanent fixture in the history of the Polish

Link to tickets: Polish-Scottish Mini Festival 2024: Happysad | Aberdeen Performing Arts

March 1-3, 2024 – “Weekend of Polish Cinema with IFF Tofifest” in cooperation with the international film festival “Tofifest”

Tofifest is a recognised and very ambitious alternative film festival. Thanks to the commitment and cooperation of our partner, the part of the program devoted to film will become an element of the festival’s program. The guest of this year’s event will be an outstanding Polish director and screenwriter – Jan Komasa. This extremely talented creator has a long track record of success. His “Corpus Christi” was nominated for an Oscar in the Best International Film category. More details will be announced soon.

In addition, in the Late spring/ summer 2024, the organisers invite auidences to visit the exhibition entitled ‘Outlanders’ at the Cruickshank Botanic Garden. The exhibition is dedicated to the history of Scottish migration to Poland. More details will be announced soon.

To find out more about the Festival see the following:

On Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/polscotfest and https://www.facebook.com/PolishAssociationAberdeen,

Festival Webpage:

www.polscotfest.co.uk