Atlas Arena Łódź and Poleski Art Centre

If you are looking for an entertainment in sporting or cultural area, you should never cast doubt on visiting Atlas Arena Łódź – an enormous venue of spectacular events in Poland.

For a couple of years, since 2009, when it has been launched, the object has provided complex of different services – including gatherings like for example Jehovah Witnesses' Congresses, sporting games and championships, and concerts, certainly.

Guests could feast their eyes with international greatest stars like Elton John, Andrea Bocelii, Iron Maiden, System Of A Down, Mark Knopfler, Shakira, Thomas Anders and many more. Many of us also,had the golden opportunity to see the world's most famous performances like Lords Of The Dance or Andre Rieu's and Johann Strauss's Orchestra for the first time in life.

Not only musical and sporting events does the Atlas Arena Łódź offer. The facilities with modern infrastructure extend the possibilities of the venue. Because of the main field construction, it can be converted into swimming pool or skating ring. Quite interesting way to entertain even the youngest citizens with kind of Disney shows on ice etc.

The biggest polish sports hall is located  in the vicinity of the Łódź Kaliska Railway and Bus Station, which provides the possibility to reach the city centre anytime, anyhow, by taxi, tram or bus.

In the nearest area of Atlas Arena Łódź, there is an old historic Leon Plihal's villa, where Poleski Art Centre is situated. In that special place, one meet the interesting variety of cultural events like painting vernissages, literary meetings with authors, and culinary shows with famous cuisine masters.

Since 1990, Poleski Art Centre is oriented in esthetic and art education of youths and children, and spreading culture and art as well. Both venues are adapted to have handicapped as guests.

There is a need to mention that in the close neighborhood of them both, there is a botanical garden, Polesie Konstantynowskie Park and Poniatowskiego Park, when one can enjoy themselves with the romantic spirit of nature almost whole the year.

Łódź from a different perspective

I was living abroad for couple of years and when I spoke to my friends who never left Poland, they advised me to try in Warsaw, Wrocław or other cities. They said if you go to Łódź it will be your biggest mistake,as they saw Łódź as an old, sad , very dark city with no opportunities for young people. I thought to myself , I will give it a go, I will try,let’s see how it goes.

Now two years later I must say I don’t regret my decision. I lived in multicultural environment for so long and it wasn’t easy for me to adjust in polish reality. But along the way I met some fantastic people we ensured me that I have made a good decision back then.

As everyone know , there are a lot of people from every part of the world who are currently living in Łódź. They came here either to work or study, sometimes both of the things in the same time ( like I did) . I live here for only couple of months but I have met people from countries like India , Taiwan, Indonesia and many more. They are so different but their opinions about Łódź are similar. I was always wondering what was the reason for them, to travel across the world to Poland, when some of foreigners don’t even know where Poland is.

I have spoken to them recently, just to ask how they see Łódź .
Shanu- lovely guy from India, very religious, hard working, who is always happy, always ready to help. Came here to study at Medical University. I really admire him because he is studying and working full-time. He live in Łódź three years and his polish is getting very good  He is a guy who never went to a pub, never had a drink but his favourite place in Łódź is Piotrkowska Street, he calls it P Street
Here is what he said about Łódź :

“For me as a foreigner Lodz is a city that you love or hate. No other city in Poland was so strongly associated with 4 different nations, Poles, Russians, Germans and Jews. Their traces can be seen in many places. In my opinion it also makes this city so unique. The places attracted me in Łódź are Piotrkowska Street, Jewish Cemetery, Łagiewnicki Park, Saint Alexander Nevski Cathedral, Botanic Garden, Radegast (Radogoszcz ) Station. Łódź would have been much more beautiful if there were no graffitis and the native population can fix a small smile on their face.”

Sansan- I never saw that girl being upset, easy going , fun to be around. She came here for work, found the love of her live. Recently she moved to Warsaw, but she lived in Łódź almost two years.
Here is what she said about Łódź:

“Łódź  is a very lovely and homie place, which makes me feel so comfortable staying in this city. As a foreigner living in Poland, it's pretty often you feel that you don't belong to the city and the country because you're so different. But the moment you enter Lodz, the view and the air makes you feel like you're home. You can't say the old town is so amazing like those famous tourism cities in Poland. But walking on Piotrkowska is one of the best way to chill me down. I like the city and friendly people from Łódź a lot, and definitely a great place to visit”.

Overall I guess Łódź is not so bad. There is a lot of events, a lot of places to go to. It really doesn’t matter if you are polish or you come from a different part of the world, I guess everyone can find something interesting for themselves in that city.

National Film School in Łódź

Polish National Film, Television and Theatre School in Łódź is appreciated and known throughout the world. PWSFTViT state university was founded on March 8th, 1948. It is one of the oldest film schools in the world. Famous American film magazine "The Hollywood Reporter" presented a ranking of film universities from around the world: "The Top 15", on second place, after London National Film and Television School was a film school in Łódź. Film School form Łódź is better listed than such giants as: the Paris Le Femis and Prague FAMU. The school educates directors, cinematographers, actors and screenwriters. Most famous graduates are: Roman Polanski (Oscar 2002, Golden Palm at Cannes 2002), Krzysztof Zanussi (Golden Lion in Venice and the Golden Lions), Krzysztof Kieslowski (European Film Award in 1988 and the Golden Lion), Andrzej Wajda (Oscar 2000, Golden Palm 1981). What distinguishes this school from many others, is a possibility to work with the professional film light-sensitive tape 35 mm.

ŁKS does not read books

Let's assume that you are foreigner, ok ? You learn or work in Poland or maybe you visit friends. Nevermind, you are here in Łódź. You are waiting for a bus and you start to look around. There are many advertising, banners and so on but you see also inscriptions on the walls. They are not beautiful or eye-catching but you also realize that people around you peek at them and smile. But why ?
First of all you must know that there are 2 football clubs based in Łódź. Widzew and ŁKS.
Widzew(RTS) was founded in 1922 and named after district of the city where it is based. Widzew has a lot of fans in Łódź. Their nickname is Czerwona Armia (Red Army). Widzew currently plays in the Polish Second Division.

ŁKS is based in the West of Łódź.  Unfortunately, after years of financial hardships, the club declared bankruptcy in May 2013. Now ŁKS competes in Fourth Polish Division.
The most important thing is that fans of these two clubs do not like each other but this statement does not fully reflect reality, if you know what I mean : )

In most cases this "war" is rude, offensive and inelegant. People on the streets screaming bad things, accusing everyone of being homosexual and stuff. This went on for a long time and is still ongoing but someone had a brilliant idea. If we still want to offend each other, let's make this less vulgar, in such a way that other people do not feel disgusted.

"ŁKS does not read books", "Widzew does not respect the fast", "ŁKS sleeps with socks on" and many others. To understand what's so funny, you have to know Polish culture, history and tradition, or you can ask your friend from Poland what it's all about. They are very sarcastic and ironic and ridiculous too.
It's very funny for us, even when we can't explain it. It's for us in some way natural that we understand it.
However I encourage all of you to ask your friends what these inscriptions mean. You can learn a lot about Polish mentality.

I post the website as well: https://www.facebook.com/FutbolFactoryPoLodzku

Check it out !

Light Move Festival

Light Move Festival was established by Cultural Foundation "LUX pro MONUMENTS" in 2011. It's a cultural and artistic event organized yearly in public spaces of Łódź for locals and tourists, where the first roles are played by the architecture, light, music and color. Free and open form of the event allows everyone to participate. This festival is a wonderful combination of light illuminations, installations, kinetic art, dynamics and 3D mapping. Tenement houses and buildings are illuminated with the use of ecological LED lights provided by Philips. The main goal of Light Move Festival is to promote the city of Łodz, both internally and externally, leading to change the city image that would attract the number of people seeking esthetic sensations that can be provided by light and impressive technology – which is the most effective way of getting the attention of multiple recipient. Every year the intention of Lux Pro Monumentis Foundation is to make these tree days of the Festival the time when the city is crowded, cheerful and capable of becoming artistically inspiring for locals, tourists and people associated with culture. 
LMF cooperates with  worldwide recognisable artists and light designers from Poland, France, Germany, Hungary and Great Britain. It also supports local artists and students from art schools, offering the opportunity to develop and exhibit their projects. Over 350 000 guests visited the festival during the last edition. The number of LMF participants is doubled every year.
Comparing to the 1st edition, total increase of audience in 2014 is 677%.

Light Move Festival statistics:
- 4,5 million of Internet searches
- over 17 000 active fans on Facebook
- over 6 000 pictures tagged with #lightmovefestival
- over 5 000 videos from last edition on YouTube
- 223 000 visits on the official festival web page
- advertising Value Equivalent of 856,829,00 zł

FashionPhilosophy Fashion Week Poland

Are you interested in fashion? Even if you don't wear t-shirts designed by SOMEFAMOUSDESIGNER, you must take part in this event. FashionPhilosophy Fashion Week Poland  is the biggest fashion event in East-Central Europe. It takes place twice a year. If you didn't see it yet, you should come in April this year and be a part of the XII edition. The members of Program Commitee are top authorities in the Polish fashion and media industries. The Poland Fashion Week  has earned international recognition. The event is a part of world Fashion Weeks. You don't have to spend a lot of money to go to Paris or Milan. You have all of this in ŁÓDŹ! Beautiful models, current trends, and of course you can buy something for yourself.

I think that, even if you are not a fashion blogger or you just don't pay attention on clothes every day, it is worth to see that huge world event.



To see more visit http://fashionweek.pl/

Walk of Fame

No visit to Lodz would be complete without a trip to Piotrkowska Street. The street is 4 km long and is said to be the longest pedestrian shopping street in Europe. If you feel lazy you can always take a ride in a rickshaw. There you can find interesting buildings, restaurants, cafes, shops and clubs.
The most interesting thing about Piotrkowska Street is Walk of Fame.

Borrowing the idea from the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Łódź has created its own strip of sidewalk featuring star-shaped plaques honoring the best of Polish cinema. The Łódź Star Avenue is located at Piotrkowska Street, between 6 Sierpnia Street and Rubinstein Passage. The stars are on either side of Piotrkowska right outside the Grand Hotel and include names like Roman Polański, Jerzy Kawalerowicz and Pola Negri.  The originator of the Avenue was Polish actor Jan Machulski, who wished to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Łódź film school in 1996. The first star with the name of Andrzej Seweryn was uncovered in 1997. On the even number (east) side, there are stars of directors, cameramen, scenographers and film musicians. The odd number side is reserved for actors.  The idea of the Łódź Walk of Fame was to combine high culture with mass culture, which is why stars that shine the brightest are positioned next to ones that are remembered by few. The Chapter of the Star Avenue operates at the Museum of Cinematography in Łódź and the Łódź Film School.

OFF Piotrkowska

If you’re wondering what can you do in such beautiful city like Lodz, there is only one answer, nothing! Stay at home and barricade your doors! I’m kidding :D. Lodz is a very specific place, comparable to the  Detroit. We can take it for granted that its times of greatness are far away behind, but…Yes there is a "but"!

There are many interesting and fascinating places and the one of them is for sure OFF Piotrkowska. It’s a project created by Michal Stys. The main purpose of this investment is association of the creative industry. We can find there designers' and architects' workshops, music clubs, restaurants, exhibition places, rehearsal rooms, showrooms and concept stores. Everything is placed in old Ramisch’s cotton factory. ‘Never judge a book by its cover’, without any doubts this proverb match this place perfectly. At first sight, there is nothing beyond old, shabby buildings made of bricks, but this is only how it looks like from the outside. Inside is a pumping space filled with people where the  magic happens! I didn’t have the opportunity to visit all of the spots, but ‘Daleko Blisko’ is one of the most climatic coffee shop I have ever been to! It’s the mix of  good food and beer by day and tales from around the world by night. If you want to buy some clothes, you must visit ‘Sklad rzemiosl pieknych’. If you want to taste palm fruit soup, drop in to ‘MEG MU African food’. Printing photos? ‘Tkalnia obrazow’ is waiting for you! Good OFF-mainstream music? ‘Dom’ is the place where you will feel the bass! I could describe everything what you can find on OFF Piotrkowska but I won’t do this. Why? You must go there and explore it by yourself!

Below I’m posting a map, which will show you how get there!

International Festival of Comics and Games

International Festival of Comics and Games takes place every year in October. It's the biggest of this type of events in Poland and Central and Eastern Europe, on which few thousand participants arrive from Poland and abroad .There are a lot of reasons why they come to Łódź - the possibility of meeting the most famous comics artists, shopping at the fair stands , taking part in workshops, visiting exhibitions and having  fun at the festival events. The festival takes place in Łódz since 1991 and is organized by the Association of Creators " Contur " and House of Culture.
Each festival is a meeting with drawers, writers and publishers who come to Łódź from all over the world. The festival has hosted artists, among other countries, from the USA, Canada, Russia, Belgium, France, Switzerland, Italy, Czech Republic, Portugal, Austria and the UK. Invited authors not only meet with the audience, but also conduct drawing workshops and scenarios in which they learn to use the language of comics. Often, professionals and newcomers compete with each other during the "comic session” that is drawn live.

In 2009, formula of the festival zone has been expanded to games, where tournaments, presentations of Gaming Hardware and new realeses premieres take place. Thanks to the festival and the comics environment,  Łódź is known as the "Polish capital of the comic book." This allowed the organizers of the event to establish long-term cooperation with the biggest comic centers in Europe.

Intercultural past reflected in art

Despite being a relatively young city, Łódź can boast a fascinating and complex history. Today’s population of the city is for the most part Polish, but until the outbreak of the World War I Poles constituted only about 55% of its population, the remaining 45% were Jews, Germans and Russians. Thanks to their joint effort a humble settlement turned into a prosperous city bustling with life. Even though Łódź is not a melting pot anymore its residents celebrate the past by holding Łódź Festival of Four Cultures. This is a multidisciplinary art festival including music concerts, theatre plays, visual arts exhibitions, street performances and many others. The name is a bit deceptive because the organizers don’t limit themselves to the four main cultures that used to coexist in the city. Representatives of ethnical minorities such as Roma People are always included in the line-up.

“For several years, Łódź has been going back  to its multicultural roots. The idea of Łódź Festival of Four Cultures was born out of respect for the past. Mixing traces of Polish, Jewish, German and Russian influence can be seen in Łódź at every step, present in the tissue of the city, in the mentality of the people, and the history - although it seems a long time ago minion - becomes again the beginning of talking  about the present and the future of the city.”

Joanna Podolska Łódź Festival of Four Cultures website



Each edition has its theme. For instance in 2013 it was “Generations” as the intention of the organizers was to bridge the generation gap between artists and art lovers and  find common ground for collaboration.
Not only do the organizers go out of their way to make the event a memorable artistic experience but also find its social impact equally important. Events are expected to lead to an agreement over boundaries and barriers. For example in 2014 thanks to the collaboration with Therapy and Theatre Festival viewers had the opportunity to see the extent to which person’s disability affects his perception.
The festival is always accompanied by a series of debates with prominent people from  atrs and science
The event usually takes place at two weekends in May or June so if you’re in Łódź in late spring be sure to come across some street art that will surely make you stray from your planned rout

The admission to all the events is  free.

For details go to the Festival website.