It is our joy to share with you the summary of Queer Choir Summer Festival – Poland’s very first LGBTQ+ choir festival, organised by us, Krakofonia. The event spanned four days (15th through 18th August) and brought together people who love choir music and singing, and who are passionate about creating communities based on mutual respect, equality and inclusion. The festival created a space for us all – the choristers and the audience – to celebrate our diversity with joy and pride.
We had 114 participants, including choirs from Czechia (Doodles) and Ukraine (Queer-Essence), and a special guest choir from the US, Steel City Men’s Chorus. We were all guided by the same principle: make music the starting point for conversations about improving the situation of LGBTQ+ people in Central and Eastern Europe – unfortunately, there is still much room for improvement in this area.
Aside from the concerts of our guest choirs, the first two days of the festival were filled with vocal and artistic workshops hosted by the Dworek Bialopradnicki. The vocal workshop held by Agata Kulis helped all choristers work on voice emission, boost confidence when performing on stage and learn more about proper breathing technique for singers. The artistic workshop hosted by the Pracownia Slicznosci, on the other hand, was an opportunity to decorate totes bags and T-shirts using silk-screen printing, marbling and tie-dye. Despite the heatwave, the workshop was a hit.
On the third day, we went on a guided tour of the Nowa Huta district with Kuba Juzwa as our guide. As we strolled through that less touristy area of Krakow, we stopped several times to do a series of flash performances, to the surprise and curiosity of locals and passers-by. In the evening, we performed the grand closing gala at the Teatr Ludowy (People’s Theatre), together with all the guest choirs Doodles, Queer-Essence and Steel City Men’s Chorus. Krakofonia’s concert was inspired by the colours of the rainbow, which showed in our repertoire as well as stage costumes and performance. Our audience had the chance to vibe with us to the pop tunes of Just Five’s Kolorowe Sny, stomp their feet to the rock anthem Biała Armia by Bajm and be moved by Cyndi Lauper’s True Colors. After the gala, which took almost four hours, we moved the party to the Bracka 4 club, where the inter-choir fun continued until small hours.
On the fourth and final day of the festival, we chilled on the Vistula during a Drag Queen Brunch organised for us in the Slay Space bar.
Our thanks go to every person involved in this event: 267 tickets, 44 invitations and over 700 attendees and audience across those four days is a living proof that this was a much-needed initiative – not just for us, but for all of you, too! We would also like to thank our partner organisations: the City of Krakow, Teatr Ludowy, ZOO Klub, Steel City Men’s Chorus, Pracownia Śliczności and Megi Rychlik; media patrons: Kraków.pl, Jazzkultura Kulturatka.pl and Queer.pl; and, last but not least, our co-organisers: Federacja Znaki Równości, Dworek Białoprądnicki and Bracka 4 club – you made this event even more magical!
We also invite you to watch our festival recap in a short video!