Final Dance!

It's time for the grand finale of this year's edition of the Bonfire of Traditional Music in Katowice! together

with the Fedak Band and the National Institute of Music and Dance we invite you to the final dance of the project.

During the dance event, the workshop groups of the Bonfires of Traditional Music in Katowice and Kozłowo, the ensembles of the Leaders of both Bonfires, i.e. the Fedak Band and the Kasia Chodoń Band, as well as the combined forces of both Bonfires - a strong group consisting of Participants and Leaders of both Bonfires will be presented in the joint repertoire! You can't miss it!

There are more attractions waiting for you this day!

10:00 a.m. — Silesian music for the youngest — music lessons for children aged 0-18 months with tutors, conducted by Beata Hamela/Muzobajtel

More about the project [link opens in a new window]

12:00 — music workshops with the Leaders of the Foci of Traditional Music in Katowice and Kozłowo. Workshops exclusively for participants of Bonfires!

17:00 — workshop of traditional Silesian dances with Iga Fedak

About artists:

Fedak Band — a family band from Katowice, playing traditional music from Silesia, as well as original music inspired by Polish traditional music. The band also promotes traditional music and dance by organizing and conducting workshops, dances and other creative activities, in which they always involve local communities and participants of their workshops. The band performs and educates both in its region and in further corners — Krakow, Warsaw, Prague or Budapest.

The team will be composed of:

Iga Fedak — singing, drumming, conducting dances

Karolina Fedak — violin

Kuba Fedak - accordion

Kasia Chodoń Band — the group plays ancient Cracow melodies from 19th century recordings, radio archives and field studies, mainly in the north-western part of Krakowiak and southern Kielce. Through the accompaniment on traditional folk instruments such as the heligonka and the characteristic singing technique, the group recalls the beauty and diversity of Polish folk songs. The repertoire of the ensemble includes Krakowiaks, polkas and oberki with songs, as well as ballads and songs to stop and reflect on human fate. During the dances, the band conducts numerous games and folk dances, recalling at the same time forgotten customs prevailing in dance culture.

Band composition:

Katarzyna Chodoń — singing, conducting dances

Żaneta Seweryn — heligonka

Arkadiusz Szalata — drummer

Traditional Music Fognisko in Katowice — a group meeting at weekly music and vocal workshops under the supervision of Iga and Jakub Fedak in the City of Gardens in Katowice. The participants will learn Silesian traditional melodies, both instrumental and vocal-instrumental in dance rhythms. During the stage performances as part of the dances, the group performs under the informal, graceful “Relatives and Friends” and with great enthusiasm encourages to dance together to old Silesian melodies.

The Traditional Music Bonfire in Kozłowo is an initiative of local animators of traditional folk culture Arkadiusz Szalata and Katarzyna Chodoń and the Community Cultural Center in Kozłowo. Participants of the Bonfire are children, youth and adults who want to learn traditional melodies, dances, songs, costumes and folk customs of the Northern part of Miechów Land. The participants of the Bonfire will get to know them under the supervision of both musicians and animators of the younger generation (Kasia Chodoń, Żaneta Seweryn, Arkadiusz Szalata), as well as older musicians, such as Edward Gola — violinist from Sędziszów, or Marek Juzaszek — violinist from Przybysławic, known from Adam Kocerba's Działoszacy Band.

About the project:

The Bonfire of Music and Traditional Dance is a joint initiative of the Fedak Band and the Katowice City of Gardens institution, which we have been implementing since the summer of 2023. The aim of the Bonfire is to disseminate Silesian music and traditional dance, to restore them to the role of integrating the local community, the utilitarian function and the social dimension of common music and dance. As part of the project, instrumental and dance workshops were held, as well as a trip and integration with the Traditional Music Camp in Kozłowo. Details about the next projects around traditional music are coming soon on the profiles of the Fedak Band and the City of Gardens! In November and December there will be a carol workshop, and in the carnival we will invite you to dance workshops.

Iga and Jakub Fedakowie from the Fedak Band are the leaders and workshop leaders of the Traditional Music Bonfire in Katowice:

Iga Fedak — ethnologist, ethnomusicologist and folk dance instructor, specializes in Silesian dances. She teaches the subject “traditional dance” at postgraduate studies in the field of Polish traditional music at the Katowice Academy of Music. Since 2015, she has been conducting traditional dance workshops for children and adults as well as trainings for teachers in this field (e.g. as part of Mały Kolberg or in the Katowice teacher training centers POM and Metis), and organizes dances with live music in Katowice. She dances, sings and plays the drum in her family's Fedak Band.

Kuba Fedak — musician, multi-instrumentalist, composer and educator. Since 2017 he has been running weekly music workshops, focused on traditional music. He teaches the subject of “band playing” at postgraduate studies in the field of Polish traditional music at the Katowice Academy of Music. In his family's Fedak Band he plays Silesian traditional music mainly on the accordion, but also on cymbals or fujarkas, and in the Warsaw Sentimental Orchestra he plays music of the interwar twenties on the vibraphone.

If you have any questions, write to the Fedak Band (kapela.fedakow@gmail.com)

See you soon!

The project is implemented in cooperation with the National Institute of Music and Dance as part of the program FOGNISKA MUSIKA TRADITIONNJA 2026, run by the Traditional Music and Dance Studio. Co-financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.