With summer right around the corner, festival season-including the folk variety-is about to kick off. Poznań fans of ethnic and world music are in for the treat they've been counting down to all year: four days packed with captivating music from every corner of the planet. Just like in past editions, the concerts will be held in the Grand Hall of the Castle (Zamek) Cultural Centre, in the Castle Courtyard, and in Mickiewicz Park. And once again, the Polish folk scene will be showing up strong-definitely something to keep an eye (and ear) on.
Two Openings-and a Dance Invitation!
Day one of the festival is already shaping up to be something special-with two opening acts, and there's no telling which one will steal the show. First up, the French group 8 Pipers for Philip Glass hits the stage, drawing inspiration from one of the biggest names in contemporary minimal music. You might be wondering what a modern composer like Glass has got to do with folk music. As it turns out, these musicians bring traditional wind instruments like bagpipes, bombards, and biniou into the mix, fusing them with dance tunes straight out of Brittany. Pretty wild, isn't it? Then comes the evening's headliner: the renowned Polish group Vołosi. This electrifying quintet is all strings-two of them are classically trained pros with impressive careers, while the other three come from the folk traditions of the Silesian Beskids. Together, they create a sound that is nothing short of stunning. For over fifteen years, they have been winning awards, dropping standout albums, and wowing audiences around the world. And there's still more. The Castle Courtyard will host HrayBery (ГрайБери), a Polish-Ukrainian band bringing back the music heard in the taverns, markets, and towns of old Galicia at the turn of the last century.
Kaleidoscope
Day two of the festival promises a real kaleidoscope of sounds and styles, drawing on musical traditions from all corners of the globe. The raw, expressive energy of Fulu Miziki, a band from the Democratic Republic of Congo, is bound to strike a chord with the audience. Long-time festivalgoers might remember the hugely popular Staff Benda Bilili from the same country and cut from a similar cloth. It all starts to make sense when you realise the name Fulu Miziki translates to "music from waste". The group crafts their instruments out of salvaged materials-plastic bottles, tin cans, bits of scrap-and somehow turns them into pure sonic magic: vibrant, charged, and absolutely pulsing with life. A completely different mood comes with the all-female vocal quartet from the Filip Kutev Ensemble. Their performances are rooted in the legendary Bulgarian singing tradition, celebrated and cherished worldwide for decades. If you were at the festival a dozen years ago, you might recall the spine-tingling concert in Poznań by the Eva Quartet. Expect a similar wave of deep, stirring emotion this time around, too. Then there's Nilza Costa and her band, who'll be serving up a hypnotic blend of Brazilian samba and jazz-rock, stitched together into a rich, high-energy soundscape. On the other end of the spectrum, things get a little dreamier with Oh Voyage - a Turkish-Dutch duo offering a laid-back, downtempo mix laced with the swirling tones of Anatolian psychedelia.
Hańba! And What Follows
Saturday's line-up kicks off with a bang, featuring the iconic punk-folk band Hańba! -a group that has been blending raw acoustic sounds with an irreverent, anarchic edge for years. Their style pulls from urban folk and the poetry of the interwar period; all delivered in the spirit of independence. This time around, you can count on fresh material-known to fans from their latest album-originally commissioned for the Warsaw Autumn festival. Comprised of compositions by ten contemporary composers, it offers a bold new twist to their trademark sound. Next up, expect a crowd-puller in the form of Mascarimiri, a celebrated Italian band known for merging "pizzica" - a folk dance style from southern Italy related to the famous tarantella-with modern electronic beats. Fans of the legendary Mari Boine from Samiland (who's graced Ethno Port's stage twice) should definitely catch Ánnámáret, or Anna Näkkäläjärvi-Länsman, performing with her ensemble. Representing the indigenous Sámi people, she weaves her research into joik-the traditional Sámi singing style-into a sound that's fresh with contemporary and electronic influences. For something a bit more intimate but no less powerful, there's the Balkan duo Almir Mesković & Daniel Lazar. Expect a stunning interplay between accordion and violin, where the Balkans meet Scandinavia, with classical technique flowing into improvisation. Rounding off the night is Banda Comunale, a collective based in Dresden, Germany. A true embodiment of the festival's spirit, established two decades ago in response to the rise in xenophobia, the band features musicians from Germany, Syria, Palestine, Iraq, Brazil, Italy, Poland, and beyond.
Radical Fire
No doubt about it, some of the most thrilling concerts on the festival's final day will come courtesy of Polish bands, and not your typical ones either.
Take Daj Ognia, for starters. They describe their music as "regressive dark folk" drifting between Poland and Scandinavia, turning up in dance halls, at wakes, and even in sacred groves. They see themselves as part of a movement of folk musicians who romanticise traditional music, "some do it with garlands and ribbons," they say, "others with turonie, bones, death and rebirth." Then there's Radical Polish Ansambl, performing tracks from their latest album "Nierozpoznana wieś", which just won the 2024 Folk Phonogram of the Year award. Their work is a fierce inseparably intertwined fusion of folk inspiration and modern composition. Surprisingly, the group features six violinists-some playing a classical, others a folk version of the instrument-alongside a percussionist, all led by Maciej Filipczuk. Filipczuk, who is a familiar name in the Polish fold world, known from Lautari and Tęgie Chłopy, spent several years living in Poznań. A deeply moving experience awaits in the concert by Ali Doğan Gönültaş from Turkey. Born into a Kurdish family, he pairs solo vocals with the traditional instrument tembûr, paying tribute to minority cultures including Kurds, Armenians, and Alevis. A joyful and unassuming celebration of folk dance and play will be conjured by the Czech (or Moravian to be exact) ensemble Hrubá Hudba. To wrap things up, the Japanese-German group Mitsune will serve a mix of traditional Japanese instruments and folk motifs blended into psychedelic vibes, jazz, and film music.
Come Together
As always, Ethno Port is not just about concerts and offers additional events, including film screenings, workshops, and discussions. As part of the "Listen to the World 2025" programme, audiences can expect "Beyond Orthodoxy" - a conversation with Deborah Feldman, accompanied by a screening of "No Other Land" (dir. Basel Adra and Rachel Szor), "Tamburreddhu" - a meeting with Claudio Cavallo Giagnotti, cultural researcher and frontman of the band Mascarimiri; as well as "Anti-Black Racism" - a discussion with Oliwia Bosomtwe and Margaret Ohia-Nowak. Another highlight will be a conversation about the book "Maciej Rychły. Sztuka wymaga czułości" ("Maciej Rychły. Art Demands Tenderness"), published by Wydawnictwo Miejskie Posnania, hosted by long-standing festival director Andrzej Maszewski.
Tomasz Janas
translation: Krzysztof Kotkowski
Ethno Port Poznań
5-8 June
Single-concert tickets: PLN 10-60
Passes: PLN 290 (three-day), PLN 320 (four-day)
Free admission: Hańba! and Hrubá Hudba concerts
for more see: Ethnoport Poznań
© Wydawnictwo Miejskie Posnania 2025