The Ludwig van Beethoven Easter Festival is one of Central and Eastern Europe’s leading classical music events, bringing together world-renowned artists and audiences from Poland and abroad for nearly three decades. Combining performances of the highest artistic calibre with educational and scholarly programmes, the Festival explores Beethoven’s legacy within a broad historical, cultural and intellectual context, fostering international dialogue, artistic exchange and a deeper appreciation of Europe’s musical heritage.
The Ludwig van Beethoven Easter Festival returns to Warsaw for its 31st edition from 14 to 26 March 2027.
Sinfonia Varsovia opens the festival at Warsaw Philharmonic, with Lionel Bringuier conducting and Pierre-Laurent Aimard as piano soloist. The programme includes music by Ravel and Beethoven.
Presented in partnership with the Institut français in Paris, the opening concert forms part of the official Poland–France Season.
The full festival programme will be announced soon.
Founded by Elżbieta Penderecka in 1997 to mark the 170th anniversary of Ludwig van Beethoven’s death, the Ludwig van Beethoven Easter Festival has become one of the largest and most influential classical music festivals in Central and Eastern Europe. Established in Kraków and based in Warsaw since 2004, it is held annually during the fortnight leading up to Easter, presenting concerts in the Polish capital and a number of other major cities. For nearly three decades, the Festival has brought together leading orchestras, conductors, soloists and ensembles from around the world, becoming a fixture of Poland’s cultural calendar and an important meeting place for artists, scholars and audiences.
The Festival is distinguished by its broad artistic and educational programme. Alongside symphonic and chamber concerts, opera and sacred music performances, it hosts an international musicological symposium, masterclasses for young musicians and exhibitions devoted to the history of music. Presented in partnership with the Jagiellonian Library in Kraków, these exhibitions have featured rare manuscripts and autographs by composers including Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schumann and Brahms, offering audiences a unique opportunity to encounter some of Europe’s most important musical treasures.
A member of the European Festivals Association since 2001, the Festival explores Beethoven’s legacy through a different theme each year, placing his work in dialogue with wider artistic, historical and cultural ideas. Recent editions have examined subjects ranging from freedom, philosophy and literature to the relationship between Eastern and Western musical traditions. This thematic approach allows the Festival to present classical music in a wider cultural context while highlighting Beethoven’s continuing influence on artistic life today.
Guided by the composer’s belief in the power of art to unite people, the Ludwig van Beethoven Easter Festival has developed into a platform for international cultural exchange, education and artistic excellence, welcoming audiences from across Poland and abroad while fostering dialogue between generations, cultures and musical traditions.
For three decades, posters have been an integral part of the artistic identity of the Ludwig van Beethoven Easter Festival. More than simply announcing each new edition, they offer distinctive artistic interpretations of the Festival and reflect the meeting of music, imagination and contemporary art. Together, they form a remarkable collection, tracing both the Festival’s history and the changing landscape of Polish graphic design and visual art. Over the years, the Festival’s posters have been created by some of Poland’s leading artists and designers.
The poster for the 31st Ludwig van Beethoven Easter Festival is by Polish painter Łukasz Patelczyk, who studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk.
His honours include the Kazimierz Ostrowski Award. He also took first place in Kompas Młodej Sztuki, a ranking of young Polish artists, in both 2020 and 2021.
His paintings have been shown in galleries and public art institutions in Poland and abroad, including Austria, Germany, South Korea and the United States. He lives and works in Bydgoszcz.
Poster for 31st Ludwig van Beethoven Easter Festival
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