On May 14th and 15th of 2022, the 20th, jubilee edition of the National Confrontations of Bagpipe Bands took place, organized by the Provincial Public Library and Culture Animation Center in Poznań.

During two days, young musicians participated in workshops, an open seminar and a competition for bagpipe and goat builders, which all took place in Teatr Wielki in Poznań. During the meetings, the musicians took an active part in lectures given by eminent figures from the ethnographic world of Wielkopolska. Young adepts of folk art could learn about previously undiscovered knowledge of bagpipe music, in the form of recordings, photos and interviews. As an interesting addition, participants could also listen to a presentation about the methods of manufacturing and spinning fabrics in old, rural weaving factories.

During the competition on Sunday, Fryderyk Jankowski – a student of the Forge of Tradition, presented Greater Poland bagpipes, a type coming from region of Rawicz, which he built by himself. The originality of the performance and the great sound of the instrument were clearly appreciated by this year’s jury. What its more, a concert of bagpipers, goats and soloists was held on the grand stairs in front of the Opera in Poznań. This year, musicians from the Forge of Tradition participated in the concert, represented by Fryderyk Jankowski (Greater Poland bagpipes) and his mentor Piotr Górecki (Greater Poland bagpipes). It is a great honor for the musicians as only selected bands and soloists, more than fifty musicians, mainly from Greater Poland, were invited to participate in the event.

The main idea of the National Confrontations of Bagpipe Bands is to protect the bagpipe and goat traditions, which were added in 2017 to the UNESCO National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage.

                                                                                                                         PZ