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The Amphitheatre, the Museum of the Polish Song in Opole and the Obelisk of Mateusz Swięcicki and Jerzy Grygolunas
The Amphitheatre
The Chairman of the Opole City Council, Karol Musiol, was the initiator of the Amphitheatre which was then designed by Florian Jesionowski. Karol Musiol wanted the place to be used for meetings, conferences and concerts. At the start, nobody has even thought about the festival. But in February 1963 musical journalists, Jerzy Grygolunas and Mateusz Swięcicki came to Opole with an idea to organise a Polish song audition.
4 months later, the amphitheater was inaugurated during the first Festival, on the 19th June 1963. Ever since, each year, the National Festival of the Polish Song takes place here. The only exceptions were the years of 1982 when due to the martial law the festival was called off, and 2010 when modernisation of the building took place and the festival was held on the campus of the Polytechnic of Opole.
In spring 2011 the reconstructed part of the amphitheatre was inaugurated with over 3653 seats for the audience. The amphitheatre of Opole is one of the most iconic and recognisable symbols of the city.
The Museum of the Polish Song in Opole
The Museum of the Polish Song in Opole is the only institution in Poland which aims to create a centre of information on the Polish Song and preserve all its heritage. The Museum was established by the resolution of the City Council from the 29th November 2007 and started its operation in 2009 when it announced a national campaign aiming to collect souvenirs related to the Polish song. The campaign was themed “ The Song Has its Stories’
The museum has been collecting the souvenirs such as CDs, manuscripts, photographies and musical instruments all related to the Polish song; it has also been organising workshops for children and meetings with authors, and has been preparing exhibitions documenting the achievements of the Polish artists and song writers.
The museum is situated inside the Millennium Amphitheatre.
The Obelisk of Mateusz Swięcicki and Jerzy Grygolunas
On the 19th April 2013, the monument in memory of the initiators of the National Festival of the Polish song - Jerzy Grygolunas and Mateusz Święcicki - was unveiled near the amphitheatre.
The broadcasters of the Polish Radio Three, dreamt of a national music event which would counter-balance the omni present at the time musical influences of rock and roll and big beat. The festival was organised in 4 months. Over 102 performers took part in 15 concerts. The main prizes were given to Ewa Demarczyk and Zygmunt Konieczny.