The Festival That Changed Warsaw
In the summer of 1955, Warsaw changed. A festival meant as propaganda turned into a week of colour, music, and freedom — and the Museum of Warsaw brings that story back to life.
The Old Town is not the place most Varsovians choose for a walk. It’s mostly visited by tourists — the guided groups with umbrellas, the souvenir stalls with their postcards and, honestly, overpriced trinkets. For locals, it’s often somewhere to pass through rather than linger.
But sometimes it’s worth stopping.
Inside the Museum of Warsaw, tucked into one of those colourful tenement houses on the square, there’s an exhibition that pulls you into a different time: The Summer That Changed It All: The Festival of 1955. At first glance, it’s just photographs, posters, fragments of memory. But step closer, and you feel it — the pulse of a city that, for one brief moment in 1955, opened itself to the world.
That summer, still surrounded by ruins and scaffolding, Warsaw hosted the Fifth World Festival of Youth and Students. Nearly 170,000 young people from Poland and beyond arrived under the banner of peace and friendship.
The Summer that Changed It All: The Festival of 1955 exhibition. Photo: Warsawslook
That summer, still surrounded by ruins and scaffolding, Warsaw hosted the Fifth World Festival of Youth and Students. Nearly 170,000 young people from Poland and beyond arrived under the banner of peace and friendship. The official aim was socialist propaganda; the unofficial result was something much larger. Suddenly the grey city was full of colour, music, and laughter. For many Poles, it was the first time they saw people of different races, heard foreign languages, or felt the energy of a truly international crowd.
The Summer that Changed It All: The Festival of 1955 exhibition. Photo: Warsawslook
For many Poles, it was the first time they saw people of different races, heard foreign languages, or felt the energy of a truly international crowd.
It was also the summer the Palace of Culture and Science first rose over the skyline — another gift, another symbol. For some, PKiN was a reminder of control and dependence. But for others, it became a landmark, the place where concerts, fairs, and encounters were held. Together, the festival and the new tower marked a turning point: Warsaw was no longer just rebuilding; it was stepping back into the world. Walking through the exhibition rooms, you see it in the photographs: faces shining with curiosity, streets overflowing with parades, posters shouting optimism.
The Summer that Changed It All: The Festival of 1955 exhibition. Photo: Warsawslook
And so the Old Town — often dismissed as a stage set for visitors — becomes the doorway to remembering a story that belonged to Warsaw. The festival filled every street and square with energy, but today it’s here, in the museum on the market square, that its echoes return. Which is why sometimes it’s worth pausing in the Old Town: behind the souvenir stalls and postcards, you might uncover the moments when the city truly changed.
Dates and details
- When: 18 June — 31 December 2025
- Where: Museum of Warsaw
- Hours: Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday: 11:00 — 19:00, Thursday: 11:00 — 20:00, Sunday: 11:00 — 18:00
- Tickets: 20 PLN normal / 15 PLN reduced (*Thursday 1 PLN)
