Thursday brought the final performance of La Distance by Tiago Rodrigues and the opening of the Malta Festival Music Stage at the Poznań International Fair grounds. On Friday, the festival enters one of the most exciting moments of this year’s edition with the launch of The Second Woman starring Magdalena Cielecka and the Poznań premiere of Pulverkopf directed by Katarzyna Kalwat. Later in the evening, electronic music will take over the festival’s concert stage.

At 18:00 in Sala Ziemi, The Second Woman begins – a 24-hour performative marathon featuring Magdalena Cielecka and one hundred men selected through an open casting call. For an entire day, the actress will repeat the same break-up scene, each time with a different partner, without rehearsals or prior arrangements. Every encounter lasts around ten minutes, yet each reveals new nuances in gesture, tension, intimacy, power and communication.

One of the most acclaimed theatre projects of recent years, The Second Woman has previously been presented in London, New York, Vienna and Barcelona. Audiences can drop in for a single scene or stay for hours, witnessing how repetition gradually produces entirely new emotions, meanings and relationships. A limited number of last-minute tickets will still be available at Sala Ziemi. 

Also at 18:00, Teatr Polski will host the first of three performances of Pulverkopf, directed by Katarzyna Kalwat and starring Jacek Poniedziałek. Based on Edward Pasewicz’s monumental Angelus Prize-winning novel, widely regarded as one of the most important Polish books of recent years, the production explores memory, identity, history and the attempt to reconstruct a life from fragments, notes, images and missing traces. Further performances will take place on Saturday and Sunday.

Malta Festival will once again spill out into the city. From Friday onwards, BANDAKADABRA returns to Poznań. The beloved Italian street orchestra has a gift for transforming ordinary urban spaces into spontaneous celebrations of music. Look out for them in squares, streets and unexpected corners of the city.

At the Old Market Square, at the intersection of Szkolna and Paderewskiego Streets, Lyrical Minutes in the City will appear three times throughout the day – at 12:15, 15:15 and 20:00 – bringing song and music into the heart of everyday life. At 16:00, Półwiejska Street will become a live film set thanks to Special Effects by Luciana Acuña and Alejo Moguillansky, a project combining choreography, performance, live music and the language of action cinema. At 21:00 in Freedom Square, audiences will have their final chance to see DOWN. Single Version by Mélissa Guex – an intense encounter between dance and percussion performed in close proximity to the audience.

Friday on the Malta Festival Music Stage belongs to electronic music. At 20:00, HAAi – the Australian DJ and producer whose sets build tension almost imperceptibly, moving from hypnotic textures to full club intensity – will open the evening in Hall No. 6 at the Poznań International Fair grounds. At 21:30, the stage will belong to Worakls, one of the leading figures of contemporary French electronic music, known for combining dancefloor energy with the scale and emotion of cinematic composition. The night will conclude at 23:30 with a DJ set by The Blaze, the French duo whose distinctive sound has captivated audiences at major festivals around the world.

This will be the second of four concert evenings at Malta Festival. Still to come are performances by Efterklang, Charlie Cunningham, Beirut, King No-One, Kacperczyk and Two Door Cinema Club. Tickets remain available.

For those not ready to call it a night, the official Malta Festival afterparty will continue at Tama club. Music will be provided by Goldyn D., Vizril and Erol Alkan – British DJ, producer and one of the most influential figures in contemporary club culture.

Before the festival gives way to marathon performances and concerts, the day traditionally begins with festival yoga. Due to the heatwave, the session has been moved indoors, but its spirit remains unchanged: a gentle hatha yoga practice focused on breath, recovery and musical inspiration drawn from the artists performing later that day on the Malta Festival Music Stage. After the session, participants can enjoy a recovery zone with snacks and smoothies prepared in cooperation with Kuchnia Vikinga.

At 13:00 in the Festival Club, Professor Ryszard Szubartowski and Marcin Sawicki will discuss education, excellence and how to raise independent thinkers. Later, at 15:30, Kamila Urzędowska and Anna Serdiukow will meet for From Jagna to Łęcka: How Do You Give a Voice to Heroines Everyone Already Knows? – a conversation about acting, cultural canon and female characters who have long been defined through the perspectives of others.

Malta Festival will once again spill out into the city. From Friday onwards, BANDAKADABRA returns to Poznań. The beloved Italian street orchestra has a gift for transforming ordinary urban spaces into spontaneous celebrations of music. Look out for them in squares, streets and unexpected corners of the city.

In the Old Market Square, Opera for a Moment will appear three times throughout the day – at 12:15, 15:15 and 20:00 – bringing song and music into the heart of everyday life. At 16:00, Półwiejska Street will become a live film set thanks to Special Effects by Luciana Acuña and Alejo Moguillansky, a project combining choreography, performance, live music and the language of action cinema. At 21:00 in Freedom Square, audiences will have their final chance to see DOWN. Single Version by Mélissa Guex – an intense encounter between dance and percussion performed in close proximity to the audience.

Women’s Cinema returns to Stary Browar Park in the evening. At 21:30, audiences will see Nice Women by Maria Wojtyszko and Jakub Krofta – a story about contemporary womanhood, everyday overload, dreams and the desire for change. The screening will be followed by a conversation with actress Anita Sokołowska and the filmmakers.

See you at Malta!

To Love!