The 18th "CODES" Festival of Traditional and Avant-garde Music

The "Crossroads" Centre for Intercultural Creative Initiatives and Radio Lublin announced the 18th "CODES" Festival of Traditional and Avant-garde Music, taking place from May 27 to 31, 2026 in Lublin. Five days of concerts that bridge seemingly distant worlds: early music and electronics, diverse aesthetics, and various eras—all allowing to discover new meanings of "tradition" within the context of contemporary music.

The festival will open with the French collective La Tempête and their performance Orlando – a melancholic portrait—a musical tale balancing early forms with contemporary interpretation.

On May 28, the project "100,000 Polsk" will be premiered. It is the result of archival research conducted in Sweden and a collaboration between musicians working at the intersection of tradition and modernity: Maja Miro, Ryszard Lubieniecki, Paweł Iwan, and Piotr Gwadera. An album featuring their compositions will be released in late 2026. The project was implemented as part of a scholarship granted by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.

The Festival Dance Night on May 29 will merge the energy of traditional sounds with group dancing—this time featuring an international collaboration between the Lithuanian Kapela Kotra and the Polish Orchestra "Podróżniacy".

During a special concert celebrating the centenary of Polish Radio on May 30, the Royal String Quartet will premiere a String Quartet composed by Paweł Malinowski, commissioned by Polish Radio for this occasion. The program will be complemented by works by Paweł Mykietyn and three compositions by Wojciech Błażejczyk—Prelude, Interlude, and Postlude from the album Re-Used Sounds—performed live by the composer.

The upcoming edition will also feature performances by Flow Unit, Hashtag Ensemble, Andrzej Karałow, Emilia Karolina Sitarz, Ewa Liebchen, Magdalena Kordylasińska-Pękala, Alejandra Cárdenas aka Ale Hop, Supersilent, Jenny Hval, the duo Jonny Nash feat. Tomo Katsurada, WCIAS, Hatis Noit, Elori Saxl, and Antonina Nowacka.

The 18th CODES Festival will also mark the premiere of four albums (released by the "Crossroads" Centre): Morton Feldman – Triadic Memories (performed by Andrzej Karałow), Morton Feldman – Crippled Symmetry (performed by Magdalena Kordylasińska–Pękala, Ewa Liebchen, and Emilia Karolina Sitarz), WCIAS – Wiwaty, and Wojciech Błażejczyk – Re-Used Sounds.

The CODES Festival is organized by the "Crossroads" Centre for Intercultural Creative Initiatives and co-organized by Radio Lublin. The program is curated by Grzegorz Paluch.

Co-financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage from the Culture Promotion Fund (a part of the "Music" program, implemented by the National Institute of Music and Dance).

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.

Detailed information available at: https://kody-festiwal.pl/