This autumn, Cracow will once again host a true celebration of the accordion. The 2025 Cracow Accordion Festival will begin on October 7 and run until December 12, featuring accordion music across eight concerts. Events will be held in various venues throughout the city, offering listeners diverse acoustic experiences and embedding the festival into the broad cultural fabric of Cracow. All events are free of charge.
This year’s edition embraces a variety of concert formats — from intimate chamber evenings to events of expanded form — each with its own carefully constructed musical narrative: communicative, accessible, and thoughtfully curated for the audience.
In addition to artists from Cracow’s music community, the festival will welcome international guests. Performers include Duo Accosphere, Duo Synthesis, the New Accordion Quintet, as well as soloists such as Wiesław Ochwat, Agata Zemla, Maciej Zimka, and Krzysztof Madyda.
The program features world premieres of works by Polish composers, international repertoire highlights, and music for voice and accordion. For the first time, audiences will hear Conversion Chord by Bożena Boba-Dyga and Paweł Siek, Coup de grâce for accordion, cello, and live electronics by Agata Zemla, and a Trio by Jacek Rabiński for guitar and two accordions.
“The festival remains true to its core values: commissioning new works and premiering them, maintaining high artistic standards, and fostering warm, inclusive communication with its audience. The Cracow Accordion Festival opens up new perspectives in the art of the accordion, becoming one of the most exciting highlights of the Polish musical season,”
says the organizer, Art Forum Foundation.
Partners: Radio Kraków, TVP Kultura, Krzysztof Penderecki Academy of Music in Cracow, TVP 3, Society of Friends of Fine Arts in Cracow, National Museum in Cracow.
Patrons: ZAiKS Authors’ Association, Pro Musica Nova Foundation.
Co-financed by the City of Cracow and the National Recovery Plan.
Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC
Detailed programme: https://fundacjaartforum.pl/krakowski-festiwal-akordeonowy-koncerty-2025/
