Polish Heritage Days

Polish Heritage Days is a festival held across the United Kingdom every May since 2017. Local Polish groups, parishes, Saturday schools and other organisations put on events about Polish culture and history and about the part Poles have played in British life. The 2023 edition listed 95 events in 62 towns and cities in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Why the festival is held in May

The festival runs under the patronage of the Polish Embassy in London and starts on the first weekend of May. That timing follows two Polish dates: 2 May, which is both Polish Flag Day and the Day of Polonia and Poles Abroad, and 3 May, Constitution Day, a national public holiday in Poland that marks the constitution of 1791. The festival’s emblem is the red-and-white chequerboard used by Polish airmen in the Battle of Britain, which has become an informal symbol of Poles in the UK.

What kind of events take place

The programme is put together from what local organisers offer, so it changes from town to town and year to year. Recent editions have included concerts, folk dance shows, exhibitions, film screenings, talks and lectures, workshops, guided walks, competitions, picnics and wreath-laying ceremonies, some of them online.

Each year has a theme. In 2022 it was the 130th anniversary of the births of three Polish generals, with a London walking tour of places connected with them. In 2023 it was the Polish part in breaking the Enigma cipher, 80 years after Polish codebreakers reached Britain.

Polish food at the events

Community picnics and festivals are where most visitors meet Polish food, such as pierogi (dumplings), bigos (hunter’s stew) and pączki (doughnuts).