On November 4, 2018, the Paderewski Center will inaugurate the second edition of the "Viva Polonia!" Festival, which is guided by the idea of promoting Polish culture – music, art and history. The date of the event, which will last until November 11, is not accidental. It refers to the 100th anniversary of regaining independence, so important for all Poles.
The programme of this year's festival includes concerts, patriotic lessons and the exhibition "Around Manru – the only opera by Ignacy Jan Paderewski" by Adam Czopek. The festival will start with the performance of the legendary Stanisław Hadyna's "Śląsk" Song and Dance Ensemble in a repertoire of the most beautiful patriotic songs. Patriotic lessons (6-9 November) are dedicated to children and adolescents. They are presented by their peers from the "Improvisation" Theater Group, operating at the Secondary and Vocational Schools Complex in Gromnik, in an interesting form of the theater production of Heroes of Independence.
During the final concert entitled "Viva Polonia! Viva Paderewski! ", the opera of Ignacy Jan Paderewski, Manru, will be performed by soloists and orchestra of the Krakow Opera. This is a historic moment in the almost thirty-year history of the Paderewski Center. The only stage work of the Master and the only Polish opera performed so far in the Metropolitan Opera in New York will appear for the first time on the stage in Kąśna Dolna, the only estate of the virtuoso preserved in the world.