An autumn evening at the cinema, a meeting with Polish artists, and, to finish, music in which the traditions of Podlasie meet club electronics. From 21 to 25 October 2026 in Oslo the eighth edition of We Do Festival - a festival of contemporary Polish art and culture - will take place. All events are free.
The program includes concerts, a showcase of Polish documentary cinema, and workshops combining music, literature, textiles and culinary arts. It is an offer for the Polish community, but also an opportunity to invite Norwegian friends and discover creators from Poland together.
Free admission should be planned in advance. For film screenings the organizer provides free tickets or reservation forms, and workshops require registration. Links to individual screenings can be found below.
Polish culture in Oslo: choose something for yourself
We Do Festival showcases contemporary Polish culture through direct encounters with creators. You can come to a single film, choose a concert, or take part in artistic activities whose results will be presented during the finale.
This year's edition takes place under the slogan "Loop the Moment". The motif of returning and reworking is present in various parts of the program: old film images will become part of a concert, recordings from the streets of Oslo will be transformed into a composition, and the musical memory of Podlasie will sound in an electronic version.
For Poles living in Norway this will be an opportunity to reconnect with culture from their country and spend time together. For friends outside the Polish community - a chance to get to know artists whose work goes beyond obvious associations with Polish folklore or cinema.
SW@DA x NICZOS: Podlasie Bounce for the grand finale
One of the strongest highlights of the program will be the finale performance by SW@DA x NICZOS. The duo is formed by producer Wiktor "Sw@da" Szczygieł and vocalist Nika "Niczos" Jurczuk.
Their music combines language and the local traditions of Podlasie with contemporary electronics. The sound brings together, among others, baile funk, afrobeat, jersey club and phonk. The artists describe their own formula as Podlasie Bounce.
It is a concert for those who enjoy musical discoveries, a distinctive voice and rhythms that invite movement. Folk inspirations receive new energy here: regional identity becomes a starting point for music that finds its place on the contemporary club scene.
The duo's debut album "#INDAWOODS" was released at the end of 2024. In 2025 SW@DA x NICZOS took second place in the Polish preselection for Eurovision, bringing their sound to a wide audience.
The We Do Festival finale will take place on Sunday, 25 October, from 18:00 at Høymagasinet at Myntgata 7 in Oslo. Admission is free.
Before the duo's performance, the audience will see the results of the festival workshops. 18:00 marks the start of the finale event — the concert will follow the participants' presentations.
Polish documentary cinema: four films in two Oslo venues
The film part of the festival will allow a look at friendship, family, growing up and musical ambitions through the stories of specific people. The program features four documentaries, screening on 22 and 24 October.
"The Death Candidates": from a holiday horror to a coming-of-age story
Maciej Cuske took his son and two of his friends on holiday to jointly shoot an amateur horror. The film-making pastime returned in subsequent years, becoming a ritual that lasted more than a decade.
From this experience came a documentary about friendship, growing up in front of the camera and fatherhood. "Candidates of Death", presented in the program under the English title "Candidates of Death", show how creating a film together can become a way of accompanying each other for years.
Screening: Thursday, 22 October, 17:00.
Venue: Kunstnernes Hus Kino, Wergelandsveien 17, Oslo.
Download a free ticket for "Candidates of Death".
"No End": father, son and a search without answers
The documentary by Michal Marczak, also known as "Closure", follows the search for the missing Krzysztof Dyminski, conducted by his father Daniel along the Vistula.
It is a story in which uncertainty remains part of everyday life. The film looks at family bonds and the experience of unresolved loss, without the promise of an easy ending.
For viewers seeking cinema that addresses important human issues, this will be one of the most emotionally demanding items in the program.
Screening: Thursday, 22 October, 19:00.
Venue: Kunstnernes Hus Kino, Wergelandsveien 17, Oslo.
Download a free ticket for "No End".
"Double Trouble": friendship of Polish women in Romania
The film by Emilia Sniegoska tells the story of Hanka and Bronka — two older friends living in a Polish village in Romania. Their everyday life is filled with conversations, mutual care and humor, although there is no shortage of reasons for concern around them.
The children have left, the husbands are gone, and questions about the future are increasingly hard to push aside. The documentary shows the strength of friendship and attachment to a place that has been home for years. For the Polish diaspora audience it can also serve as a starting point for reflection on emigration and loved ones who remain far away.
Screening: Saturday, 24 October, 15:00.
Venue: Chateau Neuf, Lillesalen Kino, Slemdalsveien 15, Oslo.
Reserve a free seat for "Double Trouble".
"Pianoforte": behind the scenes of the Chopin Competition
Jakub Piatek takes viewers behind the scenes of the International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition. The camera follows young pianists for whom the performance is the result of years of work and a chance to change their lives.
Alongside the music there are intense preparations, fatigue, friendships and the tension associated with being judged. "Pianoforte" lets us see the people behind perfectly prepared performances — their passion, joy and moments of doubt.
Screening: Saturday, 24 October, 17:00.
Venue: Chateau Neuf, Lillesalen Kino, Slemdalsveien 15, Oslo.
Reserve a free seat for "Pianoforte".
Bad Ritual will open the festival with a concert inspired by cinema
The official opening of the festival is scheduled for Wednesday, October 21, at 19:30 at Factory Tøyen. Bad Ritual, a quartet from Wrocław, will perform and has prepared a concert especially for the occasion.
The band will combine dark guitar sounds with visual materials and samples from old Polish cinema. Filmic images will be part of the concert narrative, creating a natural link between the musical and film components of the festival.
Bad Ritual was formed in 2020, and the group's debut album was released in January 2024. Their work combines rock rawness, blues tension and an unsettling atmosphere.
Factory Tøyen is located at Kjølberggata 21, 0653 Oslo. Entrance to the opening is free.
Workshops: art created together
Workshops are an important part of We Do Festival. Participants work with artists, and the results of the collaborative activities will appear during the finale on October 25.
Soft sculptures and emotions
During "Looping Emotions in Textiles" Patrycja Mastej will invite participants to work with fabric, thread and touch. Soft objects intended for hugging will be created. The starting points will be body awareness, emotions and the practice of butoh.
Oslo as an instrument
"Noise Orchestra" by Dawid Dąbrowski will begin with listening to the city and recording everyday sounds. Participants will process, loop and combine them, using, among other things, modular synthesis and cassette tapes. The result will be a collective composition presented live. Prior experience with field recording or modular synthesis is not required.
Food as an artistic material
Michalina Kostecka will lead "Taste, Transform, Loop". Natural ingredients, heirloom varieties of grain and fermentation will be used to create edible pigments, forms and compositions. The workshop will end with the creation of an edible installation.
Tokarczuk, singing and sensory experience
The workshop "Welcome to the Sanatorium", led by Julia Aagenæs Wiedlocha and Agata Żelechowska, will be inspired by Olga Tokarczuk's “Empuzjon”. It will combine collective reading, singing, sensory experiences and artistic activities.
The organizer indicates October 7 as the application deadline for workshops. Availability of places and any further registrations should be checked directly on the festival's website.
From an initiative in Oslo to a Polish-Norwegian meeting
We Do Festival was founded in 2019 on the initiative of Żaneta Kruszelnicka, the event's founder and artistic director. It has developed as a platform for meetings between Polish artists and Norwegian and international audiences.
The organizer is We Do Culture. This year's edition is supported by Oslo kommune, Fritt Ord, the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Oslo, Sparebankstiftelsen DNB and Kulturrådet.
The program shows that contact with Polish culture can take many forms: a shared screening, a concert, a conversation or creating something together. In a city where different languages and experiences meet, such events provide space for getting to know each other through art.
Download a free ticket and invite your friends
If you live in Oslo or plan to travel to the capital, choose an event for yourself. For the film screenings, get a free ticket or reserve a seat through the form assigned to a specific screening.
Also save the date of the finale: 25 October, from 18:00, Høymagasinet, Myntgata 7. That is when the results of the participants' joint work will meet the concert SW@DA x NICZOS.
Invite your family, Polish acquaintances and Norwegian friends. You can come out of curiosity, for the music or for a particular film - and discover something more in the process.
Full program, registrations and updates: www.wedo.no.
