Attending the Phoenix Polish Festival 2024...

Attending the 19th Annual Polish Festival

Way back on Saturday, April 13th, 2024, I attended the 19th Annual Polish Festival on the grounds of Our Lady of Czestochowa Parish in Phoenix, AZ.

19th Annual Polish Festival Website

My sister informed me that she was going to attend the 19th Annual Polish Festival. She said that she had always wanted to go. However, in previous years, she said that something always came up at the last minute. After performing a quick internet search I noticed that this year's Polish Festival was being held on April 13th and 14th of this year. My sister said that she was going to go to the Polish Festival on Saturday, April 13th. As a result, I made plans to attend the Polish Festival that day as well.

Getting to the Polish Festival

When Saturday, April 13th, arrived, I made the drive out to Our Lady of Czestochowa Parish. I drove east on Bell Avenue out of Sun City and drove past Highway 101 and the Arrowhead Towne Center shopping area. I made a right turn onto 67th Avenue. After a short distance, I made a left turn on Greenway Road. I was suddenly driving in an area of Glendale, AZ I had never been in before. Suddenly, I could tell that I was officially driving in Phoenix because the City of Phoenix logo was present on all of the road signs on the traffic lights. Once I got to 29th Avenue, I made a left turn and looked for a parking spot at the NAU-North Valley branch campus. From there, the organizers of the Polish Festival had a shuttle van that would drive you over to Our Lady of Czestochowa Parish a short distance away to the south.

Location of Our Lady of Czestochowa Parish

Food and Drink at the Polish Festival

The Polish Festival itself was held on the grounds of Our Lady of Czestochowa Parish. Right in what would be the parking lot. The Polish Festival was organized along the lines of going to Oktoberfest. In order to get food or drinks, you had to purchase tickets from the ticket counter. There were row upon row of tents that offered Polish food. For 22 tickets, I got the combination platter, which consisted of Polish sausage, stuffed cabbage, several pierogies, a large potato pancake, and a couple slices of bread. You could get some food items, such as pierogies or sausage, al a carte. There was even a line for crepes. There were also tents offering Polish-themed desserts. For alcoholic drinks, you had a choice between beer or wine. For beer, there was only one brand of beer offered: Zywiec Pale Lager. Zywiec is pronounced as "Zhi-vietz". Just as an aside, the Zywiec Brewery was founded in 1856 by Archduke Friedrich von Habsburg, a member of the Habsburg Royal Family in Austria-Hungary. Currently, the Zywiec Brewery is owned by the Heineken Group. Zywiec Pale Lager beer is pretty decent. Zywiec is the name of a small town where the brewery was founded. Since it was a H-O-T and SUNNY day, the beer was refreshing.

Zywiec Pale Lager Beer

The Polish Festival Itself

Besides food and drink there were was a tent that offered all kinds of souvenirs (t-shirts, polo shirts, hoodies, baseball caps, scarves, drinking glasses, key chains, etc.) for sale. The tent was doing brisk business. I thought about buying a couple of souvenirs, such as a baseball cap, a scarf, and a replica Polish Men's National Team soccer jersey, but I ultimately changed my mind at the last minute. There were tents for various Polish-American associations and charity groups. Then there were the usual vendors that you would typically see at a public event. There were two large tents with tables and chairs for people to sit and eat. When I got to the Polish Festival, seating was standing room only. The Polish Festival was actually fairly crowded. I was surprised by the large attendance. There were people everywhere. In front of the two large tents, there was a performance stage. The festival organizers brought in dancing troupes from both Tucson and Los Angeles to perform traditional Polish folk dances while wearing Polish folk costumes. Since the temperature had to be at least 90 degrees that afternoon, I am sure that the dancers were hot and sweaty. The disc jockeys even played a Polish song that was quite similar to the "Chicken Dance" song that gets played ad nauseam at Oktoberfest. There was a playground for little kids to play. It shouldn't have been a surprise, but there was a sizable monument to Pope John Paul II, known in Polish as Jan Pawel II. Thinking about it now, I never bothered to go inside the church itself and take a tour. As a result, I didn't get to see any of the artwork, sculptures, or architecture. Incidentally, Czestochowa, Poland is home to the famous Black Madonna of Częstochowa religious artwork, which is housed at the Jasna Góra Monastery. Oh well, as the saying goes, maybe next year.

The Photos

My photos from the Polish Festival are quite disappointing. At the time, I wasn't posting to my blog, so I wasn't taking photos with the idea of posting them to my blog. I noticed that the longer I was at the Polish Festival, the less energy I had. Since I bought so many tickets, I ended up drinking four or five beers. Plus, it was an abnormally hot day for the middle of April and shade was in limited quantity due to large number of people at the festival. Next year, I will take more photos.

Sausage, perogies, stuffed cabbage, potato cake, bread 

Sitting under one of the tents.

View of the performance stage.

People at the Arizona Polish Festival.

View of the performance stage.

People at the Polish Festival.

More people at the Polish Festival.

People arriving and people leaving.

Homemade Kolaczki

In Conclusion

All-in-all, I had a good time at the 19th Annual Polish Festival. I went in with no expectations and was pleasantly surprised. You can show up, get some food, drink a beer or two, and hang out for an hour or two. Take a tour of the church. I recommend that you wear a long-sleeved shirt and a wide-brimmed hat just in case.