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ANNOUNCEMENT ABOUT THE POSTPONEMENT OF MALTA FESTIVAL POZNAŃ

Dear Friends of Malta Festival Poznań,

Just a few months ago, we were excitedly preparing many surprises for you at the 30th anniversary of Malta Festival Poznań. Unfortunately, the global health crisis caused by COVID-19 has changed our reality. Right from the start, we have been carefully observing international responses to the situation and those of other international festivals who have been making difficult decisions bearing in mind their participants’ health and safety. The moment has come when we too have to take the same steps. We hope that you will accept our decision to postpone the 30th Malta Festival Poznań with understanding.

In view of the constantly changing scenario, in a time of unprecedented uncertainty, a time of restrictions on mass events and free movement of people, we have decided that the 30th anniversary of Malta Festival Poznań will not be celebrated between 19 and 20 June as planned. We have made this decision in agreement with the authorities of the City of Poznań, in compliance with the local cultural policy. Our absolute priority is to ensure the safety of our audience, the artists and those involved in organising the Festival.

We have not given up on the anniversary edition of Malta and will seek possibilities to organise the event in risk-free settings. We will make every effort to ensure that the change brought about the worldwide crisis will have as little impact on the Festival programme as possible. We will return to you with a new safe scenario, which we will develop in dialogue with the local authorities.

We feel responsible and owe a great deal to the community that cocreates the Festival and, even in this difficult time, makes us feel that what we do matters. We have just completed recruitment for a Generator Malta project and are overwhelmed by the number of applications: 109 proposals from artists from various part of the world (including Syria, Cuba, France and Ukraine) who wish to contribute to the Festival’s community art section. We are delighted to announce the winners of the open call and assure them that their projects will be realised in settings and at a time that will not expose their health and safety to any danger.

We strongly believe that this is the time when we have to focus on what will bring our work back to normal after this absolutely unexpected situation that the culture sector and all its members have not dealt with before. We are extremely grateful for your determination and work so far.

Faithful to our dream, we look forward to showering you in emotions and confetti. We look forward to taking you on an exciting journey across three decades of Malta—not just the history of the Festival, but also of theatre and art; the history of Poznań, of Poland, the world, and every individual spectator. All this will happen. We promise. But we have to wait for a safer time.

We also believe that once the global situation becomes stable, we will have an even greater need for the art of being together. This is when we will meet at Malta’s 30th anniversary: a fabulous celebration of the city and of people.

Best regards,
Michał Merczyński and the Malta Festival Poznań Team