Warsaw Autumn Festival: A Guide to the Contemporary Music Event
The essentials: Warsaw Autumn is an international festival of contemporary music. Its 69th edition took place 18-26 September 2026 under the theme SIGNS, with concerts, premieres, club events and family programming across the city.
Photo: Alina Zienowicz (Ala z), Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.5). A Warsaw Autumn festival performance, 2007 edition.
Warsaw Autumn (Warszawska Jesień) is an international festival of contemporary music held in Warsaw. Its 69th edition took place from 18 to 26 September 2026.
The 69th edition ran under the theme SIGNS. Festival director Jerzy Kornowicz framed it as a collective shift of attention away from the audible and visible surface of events towards their meaning and deep structure.
The edition was built from six strands: the main programme; Warsaw Autumn Hits the Club, curated by Dagna Sadkowska; Little Warsaw Autumn for younger audiences, curated by Anna Kierkosz; Warsaw Autumn - Contexts; an inter-festival strand; and fringe events. The programme also included meetings with artists, workshops for young composers coordinated by Aleksandra Bilińska, and a festival web radio hosted by Monika Pasiecznik and Tomasz Biernacki.
Among the 2026 highlights announced by the festival were world premieres of works commissioned by Warsaw Autumn and its partners, a guest festival appearance by SPOR from Aarhus, works commissioned by Polish Radio for its centenary with a return to the Polish Radio Experimental Studio and the music of Bogusław Schaeffer, concerts by recipients of the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation’s 2026 Ensemble Prizes, a joint event with the Ukrainian Institute, and fringe events at venues including the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw and Nowy Teatr.
Programme details and tickets are published on the festival’s website, warszawska-jesien.art.pl, with events staged at venues of markedly different character around the city.
FAQ
What is Warsaw Autumn?
An international festival of contemporary music held in Warsaw.
When did the 69th edition take place?
From 18 to 26 September 2026.
What was the theme of the 2026 edition?
SIGNS - described by director Jerzy Kornowicz as a shift of attention towards meaning and deep structure.
Where can I find the programme and tickets?
On the festival’s official website, warszawska-jesien.art.pl.
Sources
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