December is the month in which the days are the shortest and the nights the longest. A month in which heat lovers break out their thick sweaters and wool socks, while all the cold-loving people sharpen their ice-skates and prepare for a dip. For many of us, winter is a tough season that keeps us cooped up indoors. Therefore we've set ourselves the goal of breaking this stereotype, overcoming winter's bad image and demonstrating it is a chance to indulge in a bit of craziness and pursue off-the-wall ideas and plans. We want to convince Poznanians and tourists alike that winter is the time to be active, even when frost is biting. It can also be a time for culture, meeting interesting people and exploring thrilling locations. We have prepared a dozen or so exciting ideas and warming activities for you. Try all of them, or at least a few, and join us to break the bad spell of winter!

Steering clear of cliché topics and easy solutions, they offer smart and sophisticated music as they seek to genuinely connect with their audiences.

It is imperative that you visit the new temporary venue of the Arsenał Municipal Gallery on ul. Szyperska, which - until 16 January - will be holding two exhibitions of works by two truly fascinating artists: Patryk Różycki (I Am Afraid It Will Be Too Late One Day) and Bartek Arobal Kociemba (Whole Burnt Flowers).

Photography dates back to the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, which makes one view it with a certain nostalgia. It is as if we yearn for what we see in the photos even if the memories captured on film are not our own. In addition, old photos, even those of a documentary nature, have a specific charm to them that makes one see them as small works of art.

The Poznań Boys' Choir will again be holding Poznań's 14^th Christmas Carolling Festival.

Paweł Binek talks to Bruce (Xiaoyu) Liu, winner of the 18th Chopin Competition

In the closing bars of The Master-Singers of Nuremberg, Wagner praises the sanctity of German art in the voice of the choir. For long centuries, such art has indeed been a benchmark for the rest of Europe, the German mastery of the arts being admired (and at times envied) by artists and art lovers alike. An opportunity to find out just how good German art really is will present itself on 10 December.

This year's 39th International Young Audience Film Festival Ale Kino! is set to be held online between 5 and 12 December at alekino.com.

The moment the exhibition Vilhelm Hammershøi: Light and Silence was announced on the Facebook profile of the National Museum of Poznań, Internet users with an interest in art responded enthusiastically.

Komeda's music will soon be heard in Poznań again as the Era Jazzu Festival is returning with a series of gala concerts. An array of outstanding artists will appear between 14 and 21 November as part of unique projects.

One of Poznań's most positive and joyful holidays, Święty Marcin Street Name Day, will again, for the second time, be overshadowed by the Covid-19 pandemic. And yet, by all indications, we should be able to meet in person and celebrate together. Don't miss it: it's Święty Marcin Street on 11-14 November.

My suspicion, bordering on certainty, is that whenever you drop the topic of Congolese art in a conversation, people will think of all those traditional folk masks and jewellery made by the locals. The exhibition "The Congolese Self-Portrait. Congo paintings from 1960-1990" may well surprise you, prompting you to revise your notions.

Mindful of how the opening of the exhibition of works by Noriaki in the Piotrowicz Gallery played out in 2019, with massive crowds effectively blocking the view of the works of art, I put off my visit to The Safe Behind the Painting exhibition in the Old Brewery until a few days after its opening. I didn't just want to attend the event, I wanted to see the display!

Nearly 500 documentary films from 64 countries have been submitted to the 25^th edition. The jury ended up selecting 31 documentaries from 14 countries in two categories: short and feature film, among them an astounding 11 productions from Poland. Each of their makers trained their camera on the nightmares and dreams that preoccupy people in the second decade of the 21st century. The Off Cinema International Documentary Film Festival is set to kick off on 19 October in the Zamek (Castle) Cultural Centre.

Blamed for the demise of painting and accused of being mechanical and thoughtless, photography has long and consistently been denied recognition as a true form of art. Ever since 1839, when it was officially invented, it has sparked controversy and heated debates in the artistic community. It seems that echoes of long decades of such disputes persist to this day, coming to the fore every time one mentions a camera while actually referring to a smartphone accessory. Let us briefly explore the history of photography, as it is the main theme of the exhibition Memoryscapes. Landscape in Polish Photography to be held in the Piekary Gallery.

It is hard to imagine today's Poznań without the grounds of the Poznań International Fair, a celebrated venue of major trade fairs, conferences, concerts and prestigious international events. Its century-long history has been inextricably linked with that of Poznań.

The twelfth edition of the LGBT film festival is here. From its modest beginnings in just one Warsaw cinema, the event has come a long way and is now touring all of Poland. Its sojourn in Poznań is planned to take place in the Pałacowe Cinema.

Since recently, the Poznań University of the Arts proudly bears the name of Magdalena Abakanowicz, an artist who revolutionised the artistic use of fabrics and became one of the world's most celebrated sculptors.

Enormous, fearsome-looking battleships alongside small, swift destroyers are placed at your fingertips, way inland and in fact in the very centre of Poznań.

On 11 September, come to the Old Brewery for some good old traditional jazz with renewed energy. The musical stars of this unique celebration of music are the bands Klaipėdos Diksilendas Memeland of Lithuania, Sunny Grove Dixie of Latvia, Medikus Jazz Band Lviv of Ukraine and the Polish groups Dixie Company and Happy Jazz Band.