KODY 2025: A Shared Space for Listening
“KODY Festival has returned to its roots.
We will enter a hypnotic trance of history, drawing from the polyphony of voices and the diversity of musical traditions.
We invite listeners on a journey to the edges of cultures that defy genres and definitions.”
– Piotr Franaszek, Director of the Rozdroża Centre
KODY Festival does not put forward a single thesis or seek a single answer, because for US, listening is a process and a movement – not a goal in itself.
– Grzegorz Paluch, Festival Curator
KODY / festival
Since its inception in 2009, KODY Festival has been a sonic laboratory—not only in Lublin, but in the wider musical landscape—where traditional and experimental music come together to ask: What is a cultural code in the 21st century?
KODY 2025 offered five days of exploration between the sacred, tradition, and electronics, culminating in a “musical feast” on the final day with Davachi, Drazkov, and Kompopolex—an intriguing dialogue of artistic worlds.
This year’s edition emphasized music that requires focus, attentiveness, and openness to nuance. It was a solid dose of sonic contemplation, moments of trance, and frequent surprises.
We also witnessed street performances, including one by Barbara Drazkov, who used a piano and headphones to guide listeners through unexpected moments of silence and intimacy. This type of event redefines the boundary between stage and audience—removing formal barriers and creating a space for inclusive artistic encounters.
A strong example of the dialogue between tradition and modernity—of borderland sound—was the group HrayBery, blending Polish and Ukrainian dance traditions during the Night of Dance.
KODY 2025 also spotlighted powerful female voices, as evidenced by the presence of leading figures in global minimalism and ambient music: Kali Malone, Kara-Lis Coverdale, Sarah Davachi, and Félicia Atkinson.
In addition to concerts, festival artists could be discovered more intimately through radio podcasts aired by Polskie Radio Lublin.
This year, KODY reaffirmed that tradition and experimentation are not opposites; instead, tradition becomes the starting point for experimentation—an instrument for dialogue between diverse sonic worlds.
The audience, beyond listening deeply, was offered a space for dialogue and reflection, because it is in dialogue that new codes are born.
After 17 years, KODY’s format has established a strong foundation—not spectacle, but subtle interaction; not effect, but presence. It enters the realm of intimate shared listening—something mass events rarely offer.
Find the full program of the past edition at: www.kody-festiwal.pl
Festival organizer: Centre for Intercultural Creative Initiatives “Rozdroża”, directed by Piotr Franaszek
Festival Curator: Grzegorz Paluch
Media partners: Polskie Radio Dwójka, Polskie Radio Lublin, Radiowe Centrum Kultury Ludowej, Nowa Muzyka
Co-financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage from the Culture Promotion Fund – a state special purpose fund – under the “Music” programme, implemented by the National Institute of Music and Dance.
Co-financed as part of the cultural programme of the Polish Presidency of the Council of the European Union in 2025.
Co-organized by: National Centre for Culture
#Poland25EU #CultureIsShared #kodyfestival #festival #avantgarde #DwójkaPolskieRadio
