Food Festivals in Warsaw

The Warsaw Bread Festival brings village bakers to Krakowskie Przedmiescie with sourdough loaves and chleb mecinski from the traditional products list, alongside kaszanka, pierogi, crayfish soup and sekacz.

TipStalls open at 13:00 and the bread sells out first. Bread baking, butter churning and croissant workshops sign up on the day.

RestaurantWeek Autumn is the second instalment of Poland's biggest culinary festival, with hundreds of Warsaw kitchens offering tasting menus for six weeks.

Warsaw's largest Christmas market fills Plac Defilad below the Palace of Culture with over 100 wooden stalls: grzaniec at 20 zl, hot chocolate at 23 zl, goulash and kebabs from 30 zl.

TipWeekday afternoons are the calm window. The 55 metre observation wheel is 45 zl and queues longest once it gets dark.

The Old Town market runs along the Miedzymurze wall walk from the Sigismund Column to Waski Dunaj, selling grilled sausage, oscypek with cranberry, bigos, pierogi and grzaniec from 20 zl.

TipGrzaniec and hot chocolate both start at 20 zl. Come after 16:00, when the wall walk is lit and the carol stage starts.

On Fat Thursday Warsaw queues for paczki from before dawn. Pracownia Cukiernicza Zagozdzinski on Gorczewska draws the longest line, frying hand wrapped marmolada doughnuts to a recipe 101 years old.

TipZagozdzinski opens at 09:00 and sells until the last paczek. People start queueing at 04:30, so pick a second bakery as backup.

RestaurantWeek Spring runs a seven-week tasting-menu programme across Warsaw and other Polish cities, with three-course menus from 70 zl by joining kitchens.

The rural heritage institute holds an Easter market on Krakowskie Przedmiescie with village bread, cheeses, cured meats, honey and fruit vinegars, plus a tent where zur is cooked and given out to taste.

TipThe zur demonstration ends in a free tasting. Babka and mazurek from the village women's circles go first, well before 16:00.

The Breakfast Market runs almost every weekend from April into autumn, Saturdays at Skwer Smiala on Zoliborz and Sundays at Skwer AK Granat on Mokotow, with breakfasts and food from small local makers.

TipSaturdays run 09:00 to 16:00 and Sundays 10:00 to 17:00. Heavy rain cancels it, so check before you cross the city.

The night market takes over the old platforms of Warszawa Glowna station from May to September, split into zones for Asian food, Italian sandwiches, comfort food and sweets around a central bar.

TipFriday and Saturday run to 01:00, Sunday closes at 23:00. Arrive before 19:00 if you want a table on the platform.

Wianki nad Wisla (Wreaths on the Vistula) is Warsaw's solstice festival, drawing tens of thousands to the Vistula boulevards for a folklore picnic.

FineDiningWeek, run by the RestaurantWeek organiser, has Warsaw restaurants serving festival three or five course tasting menus from 99 PLN through the summer, 1 July to 13 August.

TipBook through the festival site: each seating lasts two hours, there is a 12 PLN reservation fee per guest and a minimum of two guests, and a drink comes with each reservation.

Warsaw's Vistula day runs between Plaza Rusalka and Bulwar Jana Karskiego with free river crossings, a parade of traditional boats and two bonfire stations with grills from 14:00 where you cook your own food.

TipThe grills are lit from 14:00 but nobody sells the meat, so bring your own. Free crossings queue hardest around 16:00.

Warsaw restaurants take over Plac Centralny for three days of cooking at open stalls, with separate wine, cheese and craft zones. Entry is free and you pay only for the plates you order.

TipFood stops at 23:00 while the bars run later. Friday opens at 16:00 and is the quietest service of the three days.