The Warsaw Chopin Festival returns in August 2027 with its traditional series of open-air Sunday piano recitals at the Chopin Monument in Łazienki Park. The recitals - held every Sunday afternoon from mid-May through September, with the festival proper concentrated in August - are free to attend and take place rain or shine.
The Sunday concert series is one of the most accessible and genuinely pleasurable summer events in Poland. Audiences gather on the grass around the 1926 monument, which depicts Chopin beneath a stylised willow tree, and listen to concert pianists performing works from the Chopin repertoire for around an hour.
The August Festival Programme
The Chopin Festival in August brings additional concerts to indoor venues alongside the Sunday recitals, with more formal evening performances at the Chopin Institute (ul. Okólnik 1) and partner venues including the Warsaw Philharmonic. Polish and international pianists perform works from the standard Chopin repertoire - nocturnes, mazurkas, ballades, polonaises - in programmes designed for general audiences as well as specialists.
The full 2027 programme will be announced by the Chopin Institute (chopin.pl/en) in spring 2027. Sunday recital dates in August 2027 are expected to follow the established pattern: recitals at noon and 16:00 on consecutive Sundays throughout the month.
The Chopin Monument and Łazienki Park
The Chopin Monument was unveiled in 1926 after 16 years of controversy and delay, having been commissioned in 1910 but interrupted by two world wars. The sculptor Wacław Szymanowski created a figure of Chopin seated beneath the arching branches of a weeping willow, suggesting the composer’s connection to Polish landscapes and the folk music that influenced his work.
Łazienki Park - the Royal Baths Park - is Warsaw’s most elegant green space, covering around 76 hectares in the centre of the city. The 18th-century Palace on the Isle (Pałac na Wyspie), reflected in the park’s lake, is one of Warsaw’s finest buildings. The park is free to enter and is a pleasant destination in its own right throughout the summer.
Getting There
Łazienki Park is located on Al. Ujazdowskie in Warsaw’s Śródmieście district, approximately 1.5 km south of the Old Town. It is walkable from the Royal Route and from Nowy Świat. Public transport: trams 7, 8, 14, 36 stop at Łazienki Królewskie on Al. Ujazdowskie; bus 116 also serves the area. From the main Warsaw Central railway station (Warszawa Centralna), the walk through the Royal Route and Łazienki takes around 25 minutes.
International Chopin Piano Competition
Note that the International Chopin Piano Competition, held every five years at the Warsaw Philharmonic, is not scheduled for 2027. The next edition takes place in 2025 (completed) and then 2030. The summer festival recitals in Łazienki are a separate and ongoing annual tradition, running with or without the competition year.
For more on Warsaw’s cultural life, our Warsaw city guide covers the city’s museums, neighbourhoods, and what to see beyond the parks. Warsaw tours can be arranged in combination with festival attendance, and our guide to visiting Poland in August covers the wider season’s events and weather.