A concert for the Anniversary of the January Uprising

On Saturday, in celebration of the Sesquicentennial Anniversary of the January Uprising, a concert of the contemporary patriotic music took place in the Vilnius Culture Centre. The performances were given by the Polish participants form the both sides of the Polish-Lithuanian border.

The “Patriotic Youth from Vilnius” was the organiser of the event. On the occasion of the 150^th Anniversary of the Polish independence spurt, bands performing patriotic music were invited to give a gig. The concert was initiated by the band “Napalm Grupa” which may be categorized among the rap bands. A part of the audience came closer to the stage, they participated actively in the gig and had a good time with the performers.

The band “Zjednoczony Ursynów” carves out the sounds within the same genre of music. The theme of songs was diversified but the history of Poland, including the latest one was the common denominator of the songs.

One of the artists even put on a robe of the “FK Polonija Vilnius”, which was received enthusiastically by the local Poles and by the guests from the Motherland as well. Anti-communist slogans could be also heard during the concert. Dżambodżet, the leader of the “Zjednoczony Ursynów” was asked by the organisers of the event not to comment on the present political affairs of Poland and as he agreed, he also admitted that if had to avoid completely the politics, he would have to leave the stage.

“I have wanted to play in Vilnius for a long time”, said Dżambodżet (Grzegorz Federowicz) after the performance. He underlined also that he had the fondness for the city and that the Vilnius Old Town impressed him a lot. “Thank you all for giving me opportunity to be up and to play”, he said to the fans who were coming to him while he finished his performance. The band “Irydion” playing the identity and patriotic songs was the last band at the concert. During their performance, the audience kept on moving to the rhythm of the songs. In the intervals between songs, artists laughed at each other, making self-ironic comments on theirs musical abilities. The audience’s reaction was enthusiastic and the band looked very professional.

In the morning, the youth from the Motherland and their peers form Vilnius visited the Rasos Cemetery and bended before the heroes from the Mausoleum of the Grave of Mother and of Son’s Heart. Then they started visiting Vilnius in groups with guides who gave them a short lecture about the history of the city. Having finished, they went to the Lukiškės Church of St. James and St. Phillip in order to take part in a Holy Mass to be said in memory of the January Uprising participants. The spiritual aspect was also present during the concert as the youth went in procession at the Gate of Dawn so as to say a prayer. The farewell of the guests from Motherland proceeded in a friendly atmosphere; the common celebration of the Anniversary with the concert has inspired the Polish youth from both sides of the border. The majority of them claimed that this event should be repeated in the future.

 The celebrations of the Anniversary and the concert were a chance for the Polish youth to get to know each other. Apart from the Vilnians, there were also guests from Warsaw, Wrocław, Łódź, Tri-city and many other cities. It was also the opportunity to see what can unite the people from so different cities all over Poland. We could also realise how the attitude towards the patriotism has changed since the Polish independent spurt broke out 150 years ago.

Source: http://kurierwilenski.lt/2013/01/28/koncert-na-rocznice-powstania-styczniowego/

Tłumaczenie Bartłomiej Cichoń w ramach praktyk w Europejskiej Fundacji Praw Człowieka, www.efhr.eu. Translated by Bartłomiej Cichoń the framework of a traineeship programme of the European Foundation of Human Rights, www.efhr.eu.