Practically every day Poland hosts around a dozen of festival-like events. The 2010s witnessed festivalisation taking over all forms of cultural activity in our country. In an attempt to understand this phenomenon, I will situate it in the contexts of culture industry (Frankfurt School) and McDonaldization (Ritzer). These theoretical considerations are illustrated with two case studies. The first concerns “the National Stadium” and allows a diachronic overview of how politics is done through festivals. The stadium was constructed two times, first for the World Festival of Youth and Students in socialist era, and then for European Football Championship in liberal-capitalist era. Both these instances show how major events legitimise spectacular interferences in public space. The second case study focuses on two music festivals—the Jarocin Festival and Rock on the Swamp, with the first exemplifying attempts at commercialisation and sentimentalisation of counter-culture. Conversely, the latter shows how a provincial festival becomes a contact zone and a space of diversity, and evolves from a remembrance of a legendary festival into an intriguing community-based festival.

Keywords: festivalisation, culture industry, McDonaldization, National Stadium, Jarocin Festival, Rock on the Swamp

Every day in Poland—probably with the exception of 24 December, when the most important festival of the day is the traditional Christmas Eve supper—there are at least a few festival-like events. There is practically no day in the Polish festive calendar without a festival. According to the Central Statistical Office, 6,949 mass events of an artistic, entertainment and sporting nature were organised in Poland in 2019, which were attended by a total of 27,826,562 people. Although 231 festivals were highlighted in the category of mass events (CSO 2019), it should be assumed that this number is an underestimate. Krakow, which advertises itself as a “city of festivals”, encourages participation in several dozen of festivals each year (Kraków to miasto festiwali 2016). The category of “Music festivals in Poland” on Wikipedia—which includes pop, blues, choral music, early music, electronic music, folk, jazz, metal, folk music, opera, organ music, sung poetry and literary song, classical music, reggae, rock, dance, tourist and sailing song festivals—covers 250 events (Music festivals in Poland).