The International Festival of Highlanders’ Folklore (Międzynarodowy Festiwal Folkloru Ziem Górskich) returns to the Zakopane area from 21 to 27 August 2026, bringing together folk ensembles, musicians, dancers, and craftspeople from mountain regions across Europe and beyond.
The festival is one of Poland’s longest-running folk events and centres on the traditions of the Górale — the highland people of the Tatra and Beskid ranges who developed a distinctive culture of music, dance, costume, and architecture that remains vivid today. Visitors arriving in Zakopane this week will find the town transformed by folk performances on the main street (Krupówki), outdoor stages near the Tatra foothills, and evening galas at the Zakopane Culture Centre.
What the Festival Includes
The programme typically spans seven days with multiple events daily:
- Parade of Nations: folk ensembles in traditional dress from participating countries march through central Zakopane, usually on the opening day and again at the closing ceremony
- Evening concerts: each night features a main stage performance, often running 2–3 hours with ensembles from different countries rotating through
- Craft market: regional artisans sell carved wood, embroidered textiles, and traditional highlander food (oscypek smoked sheep’s cheese is the centrepiece)
- Workshops: open sessions in highland dance, instrument-making, and folk singing — some in Polish only, but the physical demonstrations are accessible to all
- Children’s programme: a dedicated daytime strand aimed at families, with interactive craft sessions and shorter performances
International ensembles in recent years have come from Slovakia, Romania, Hungary, Georgia, Bulgaria, and Mongolia, reflecting the festival’s broad interpretation of “mountain folklore.”
Getting There and Staying
Zakopane sits 100 kilometres south of Kraków and is well served by bus from Kraków’s MDA bus station (roughly 2 hours, buses every 30–60 minutes). Trains from Kraków are slower and require a change.
Accommodation fills quickly during the festival week. If Zakopane itself is fully booked, the neighbouring resort villages of Kościelisko and Murzasichle — 5–10 minutes from the centre by road — are a practical alternative.
A Good Time to Visit the Tatras
Late August offers some of the best conditions for hiking in the Tatra National Park. The summer crowds of July have thinned, temperatures are comfortable at altitude (10–18°C on the higher trails), and afternoon thunderstorms — a feature of midsummer — become less frequent. The festival gives an excellent cultural context to a Tatra hiking trip.
For advice on planning the broader trip, our best time to visit Poland guide covers the late-summer window in detail.