Polish festival is a 'celebration of our heritage'

A festival which celebrates Polish culture and traditions will return to Derbyshire after organisers said the previous event surpassed their expectations.

Pol-Fest is hosting its third year at Chesterfield Panthers Rugby Union Football Club on Saturday with an array of activities, demonstrations and Polish food.

Anna Kuc, vice-chair of Polonia Chesterfield, has said the event is building year on year with more than 700 people attending in 2024.

She said: "The festival celebrates our heritage but it is a way to help integration with people in the town."

Organisers said they hoped to surpass the number of people who attended last year and added the event helped Polish people in the area connect with each other.

But last year's event had people from Sheffield, Manchester and from Poland itself attending.

Ms Kuc said they were hoping to build on its prior success.

"This was initially an idea to connect Polish people around Chesterfield - but this was also a way to show other people our culture, traditions, food and history.

"It has grown now we have access to the rugby club, and we've had people come from all over including Ukrainians and British people from around the area, so it's starting to become more visible, improving integration with many different people."

Ms Kuc said the festival, which runs from 12:00 BST to 16:00, is free to attend with food, live music, entertainment and stalls selling Polish produce.

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