Yesterday was a day of conversations about relationships, closeness and the distances that sometimes emerge between people. There were moving performances, meaningful encounters and stories that showed how even the greatest distances can be bridged. Once again, Malta reminded us that the most interesting things happen when we try to move closer to one another. 

Thursday at Malta Festival brings together two different sides of the festival experience. In the afternoon, audiences will have their final chance to see Tiago Rodrigues’ moving La Distance – one of the standout productions of this year’s programme. In the evening, the festival opens an entirely new chapter as the Malta Festival Music Stage begins with concerts by MARO, Devendra Banhart and Benjamin Clementine.

Thursday morning will begin with the first edition of the festival’s Terrace Yoga at the Festival Club. Although the name remains unchanged, the sessions have been moved indoors due to the forecast heatwave. They will take place daily until Sunday, accompanying the concert days of Malta Festival. Each session is inspired by the music of artists performing that day on the Malta Festival Music Stage and offers an opportunity to slow down for a moment before the evening’s events.

The Festival Club will also host a full A Day with LUX MED. At 10:30, audiences will be invited to attend a live recording of an episode from the mental health podcast series Harmony – Your Safe Haven, devoted to menopause and andropause. The guest will be Marta Bem from Kulczyk Foundation, and the conversation will be hosted by Ewa Niewola. At 12:00, Dr Anna Rulkiewicz and Magdalena Rosłaniec will discuss empathy, values and leadership in a world of constant change. At 13:30, experts will explore the question of longevity and the extent to which our health is shaped by genetics or by everyday choices. At 15:00, a conversation devoted to menopause will bring together medical, social and personal perspectives.

One of Thursday’s key events will be the final performance of Tiago Rodrigues’ La Distance (15:00, Aula Artis). This Malta Festival co-production tells the story of a father and daughter living on two different planets – Earth and Mars – in a future increasingly shaped by climate crisis. It is a performance about closeness, responsibility and relationships tested by time and a rapidly changing reality. Immediately after the show, audiences are invited to join Between Closeness and Distance, a conversation with Piotr Głowacki, Grzegorz Markowski and Dr Jacek Wasilewski about masculinity, fatherhood and relationships with adult children. 

At 17:30, the Festival Club will host the final meeting in this year’s Women Talking series. Michał Nogaś will be joined by Samanta Schweblin, one of the most important contemporary voices in Ibero-American literature. A master of the short form, Schweblin creates fiction in which everyday reality quietly shifts towards unease and uncertainty. The conversation will focus on her latest collection, Good and Evil and Other Stories.

In the evening, the centre of festival life will move to the Poznań International Fair grounds. For the first time, the Malta Festival Music Stage will open its doors – a four-day “festival within the festival” bringing together artists from across the contemporary music landscape and becoming one of the highlights of this year’s edition.

The opening concert night begins with MARO (19:00), the Portuguese singer-songwriter whose music effortlessly blends folk, alternative sounds and pop. She will be followed by Devendra Banhart (20:30), one of the defining voices of contemporary alternative music and a key figure of the freak folk movement. The evening will conclude with Benjamin Clementine (22:00) – Mercury Prize winner, poet, performer and artist whose live shows are widely regarded as some of the most moving musical experiences on today’s European stages.

And this is only the beginning. Over the following three days, the Music Stage will also welcome artists including The Blaze, Beirut, Charlie Cunningham and Two Door Cinema Club. Tickets are still available.

At 21:00 in Freedom Square, audiences will be able to see the first of two performances of DOWN. Single Version by Mélissa Guex. This outdoor performance combines dance and live music in a space shared with the audience. Driven by the pulse of percussion and the performers’ intense physical presence, it creates an experience that is impossible to watch from a distance.

At 21:30, Stary Browar Park will host another edition of Women’s Cinema. This time audiences will see Beautiful!, a multi-voiced story about women at different stages of life navigating love, motherhood, ambition, ageing and the search for closeness. The screening will be followed by a conversation with actresses Marta Nieradkiewicz and Katarzyna Herman, as well as director Katia Priwieziencew.

And on Friday, one of the most anticipated events of this year’s Malta Festival will finally begin. The Second Woman is a twenty-four-hour performative marathon in which Magdalena Cielecka will meet one hundred different men on stage, repeating the same situation again and again, while creating something entirely new each time. It is a project that has been generating excitement for months – and from Friday until Saturday, audiences in Poznań will finally be able to experience it.

See you at Malta!

To Love!