The Don’t Panic! We’re from Poland project was initiated by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute in 2008 to promote contemporary Polish music worldwide. The Don’t Panic! We’re from Poland has become synonymous of young, vibrant and high-quality music from Poland. Don’t Panic makes sure that a Polish presence is visible at all of the most important music festivals, fairs and conferences – this strategy helps strengthen the Polish music industry on foreign markets and helps build a network of partners worldwide. Michał Hajduk, one of the organisers explains:
The whole idea derives from going against the prevailing method of promoting culture, which based on one-time visits of an artist at certain event. In our case, we keep on going back.
The year 2017 began very well for Polish music abroad. The concerts of Trupa Trupa and Buslav at the Eurosonic Noordeslag festival in Groningen, Netherlands, resulted in numerous offers from foreign distributors and festivals. It was one of the most frutiful Eurosonics for Polish artists so far. The phenomenal performances of Coals, Sotei and Teielte at the MENT Ljubljana festival proved that Polish bands have reasserted their position in the music industry. This young, 30-year old festival, is praised for its attachment to detail, setting very high standards. Krzysztof Halicz from Don’t Panic! We’re from Poland said:
We support artists and music managers. A few years ago we noticed a huge gap in the market. Our aim is to support initiatives for music managers by organising networking events to help them acquire new business contacts. In addition, we participate in the process of programming of conference connected music festivals, such as Spring Break in Poznań. It’s an investment in educating the Polish music industry.
In the spring, Polish music will return to festivals around the world, such Tallinn Music Week (27th March – 2nd April), Spring Break Festival in Poznań (20th – 22nd April), Primavera Sound in Barcelona (31st May – 4th June) and Jazzahead! in Bremen (27th – 30th April). In the autumn, Polish music will be present at the Reeperbahn Festival in Hamburg (20th – 23rd September) as well as at the WOMEX Trade Fair, which for the first time ever will be held in Poland.
WOMEX in Katowice
The WOMEX Trade Fair is the biggest and most important event of its type in Europe and the best occasion to meet professionals from the traditional, folk and ethnic music industries. Every year the WOMEX programme includes concerts, conferences and documentary screenings. Last year’s edition drew as many as 3,000 delegates and over 2,000 firms and institutions from the industry. WOMEX takes place in a different country every year. This year, between 25th–29th October, Katowice will be the host of the event. In this context, the presentation of Polish music will gain a new meaning and Culture.pl’s stand, present at every edition, will be extra-special.
Sources: IAM, PAP, translated by WF, 16 Mar 2017