Polish Fest is an annual ethnic festival held at the

Henry Maier Festival Park Henry Maier Festival Park is a 75-acre festival park located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on the shore Lake Michigan and is the site of the annual Summerfest musical festival and the home of the American Family Insurance Amphitheater. History Be ...

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at th ...

, and was established in 1982. One of the largest

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

festivals in the United States, it attracts Polish Americans from all over

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

and nearby

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, who come to celebrate Polish culture through music, food and entertainment. The event, along with

Summerfest Summerfest is an annual music festival held in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin. First held in 1968, Summerfest is located at Henry Maier Festival Park, adjacent to Lake Michigan and Milwaukee's central business district. Summerfest attracts app ...

and many ethnic and cultural festivals held throughout the city, give Milwaukee the nickname "City of Festivals."

History

By 1905, Polish Milwaukeeans were the community's second-largest ethnic group, second only to the Germans. The community built a permanent center for social and cultural promotion, and the Polish Center of Wisconsin was opened in Franklin, Wisconsin, in August 2000. Since 1999, Polish Fest has featured the Chopin Youth Piano Competition for non-professional pianists in two age divisions: the Junior Division for ages 14 and under and the Senior Division for ages 15 to 18. Since no Polish Fest was held in 2020 caused by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, the 39th was deferred to 2021, before being cancelled a second consecutive year. In 2022, the 39th Polish Fest was held from June 10 to June 12.Polish Fest returns to Milwaukee's Summerfest grounds
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References

External links

Polish FestPolish Center of WisconsinThe Polish Women's Cultural Club of Milwaukee
Polish-American culture in Milwaukee Festivals in Milwaukee 1982 establishments in Wisconsin Recurring events established in 1982 Henry Maier Festival Park {{Wisconsin-stub