Events

Click here to download a PDF of all the events taking place in September!

Throughout the month:

  • At selected events, we will have free raffle tickets to win a truly unique gift basket with wonderful books by Polish Nova Scotian authors, including acclaimed novels, cookbooks, history and community development!
  • The Good Food Bus (Cape Breton) – nutritious Polish recipe cards and samples of the month’s featured herb – lubczyk (lovage), while supplies last.
  • The Coast Radio weekday Polish heritage segments presented by the St. Michael’s Polish Benefit Society (3:50 and 7:50 p.m.).
  • Special NS Polish Heritage Month menu item at all Flavor restaurant locations in Sydney.
  • Mahone Bay: The Kitch’Inn B&B is partnering with local restaurants to offer a Polish Getaway Package, which includes a voucher. The Saltbox Brewery is creating a special Polish-inspired honey lager, named in honour of this year’s featured Polish Nova Scotian author William Kowalski.
  • Cape Breton University Beaton Institute series of Facebook profiles on unique photos of Cape Breton’s Polish community from the extensive archival collection.
  • Halifax Central Library: Polish books display on the 4th floor and “Celebrating Culture” webpage with activities, information, videos, crafts.
  • Baddeck Public Library, Cape Breton: Extensive book display, as well as free Polish craft kits, pisanki sleeves (to decorate eggs) and free colouring books while supplies last!
  • NSCC Truro Campus Library – month-long feature of Polish Canadian and Polish Nova Scotian authors, coordinated by Principal Lech Krzywonos
  • Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron will be flying the Polish flag.

Wed, Sept. 1: Release of the official statement for Nova Scotia Polish Heritage Month by the Honourable Arthur LeBlanc, Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia. See the video here.

Sep. 1 marks the 82nd anniversary of the invasion of Poland and the start of World War II. We invite everyone, in a manner inspired by your own tradition, to pray for peace and an end to all forms of hatred.

Fri., Sept. 3 @ 7 p.m.: Song-writing circle on Zoom. Help us complete a Polish translation of the beautiful Natalie Sleeth hymn “In the Bulb there is a Flower” – or just listen in! Free registration ([email protected]). Thank you to Hope Publishing for its permission for this project and to Kasia Jones for the first draft!

Sat., Sept. 4 @ 12 noon: Wreath laying at Polish Emigration Memorial Monument (Pier 21)

Tues., Sept. 7, 4:35 p.m.: NS Polish Heritage Month theme on the “People’s School” (CBC Radio Mainstreet Cape Breton).

Fri. Sept 10, 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., and Sat, Sept. 11, 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.: Public viewing of Jo-Ann Dziubek MacDonald’s exhibit at the Polish Village Hall. Free admission. 972 Victoria Road, Whitney Pier. Hosted by the Pogoria Polish Folk Ensemble and the St. Michael’s Polish Benefit Society.

Sat., Sept. 11, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.: Take-out Polish dinners at St. Mary’s Polish Church; $10 each. Pre-purchased tickets required; no sales at door. Please e-mail [email protected] or call 902-563-1226.

Mon., Sept. 13: Polish food sampling at the Budapest Bisztro. Limited capacity; public-health protocols. $30.00. To reserve a place, please email [email protected].

Wed., Sept 15: Deadline for the “Moja Polska” creative contest: Share a song, poem, or other creative piece. Details here. Open to everyone. You don’t have to have a Polish background.

Thurs., Sept. 16: Polish pastry evening at Lobster Pound and Moore, North Sydney. Try decadent paczki and faworki (for dine in) with blueberries freshly picked from Ron Hiscock’s High Bush U-Pick in George’s River and from Port Morien.

Fri., Sept. 17, 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.: Free workshop on “Documenting Immigration: How to Preserve Your Family’s Memories”. Jane Arnold, director of the Beaton Institute, will use examples from the Beaton’s extensive Polish Cape Breton collection. Join by Zoom. To register: [email protected] .

Sat., Sept. 18, 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.: Puppet shows by local groups featuring Polish folk legends, Halifax Central Library. Free admission; limited seating.

Sun., Sept. 19, 10:30 a.m. to 12 noon: “Historic Polish Homes of Cape Breton” – exhibit by artist Emily Sheppard, St. Mary’s Polish Church. Free admission. The images will be used to create a future mural. Do you have other homes to suggest? Book signing by William Kowalski, author of The Best Polish Restaurant in Buffalo; featured Polish Nova Scotian author for 2021.

Mon., Sept. 20, 6:30 p.m. Film Screening (theme: conscience and resistance): “Poletown Lives”, Boardmore Playhouse, Cape Breton University – free admission. An acclaimed film on a community that tried to resist forced relocation. Hosted by CBU Tompkins Institute and St. Michael’s Polish Benefit Society.

Tues., Sept. 21, 2 to 3:30 p.m.: Polish recipe roundtable at the McConnell Library, Sydney, by recipe contributors to the St. Mary’s Polish Parish Cookbook. Hear some amazing recipe tips! Special reading by featured author William Kowalski from The Best Polish Restaurant in Buffalo. Copies of the St. Mary’s Polish Parish Cookbook will be available. Pre-registration required: [email protected]

Wed., Sept. 22, 10:30 a.m.: Nova Scotia Polish Heritage Month Lecture in English by Zoom (“Leadership, Health, and Communities”) with Dr. Roman Szelemej, MD, Mayor of Walbrzych (twin city of the Cape Breton Regional Municipality); introduction by Amanda McDougall, Mayor of the Cape Breton Regional Municipality. To register: [email protected]

Saturday, September 23, 7 p.m. “ Copernicus 550th birthday commemorative sundial unveiling – Gabarus, Cape Breton – mini exhibit on the life and work of Copernicus (courtesy of our colleagues in Windsor, Ontario). For people wishing to walk to the lighthouse, please meet at the Gabarus Fire Hall at 12:45 p.m. Sundial-unveiling ceremony at the lighthouse will begin at about 2 p.m. / St. Mary’s Polish Parish retreat in Gabarus (10 a.m.)

Sat., Sept. 23, and Fri., Sept. 24: Craft and cooking workshops with the Whitney Pier Boys and Girls Club (Whitney Pier Youth Club)

Sat., Sept. 23: Polish Day at the Halifax Central Library. Displays, crafts, 1 to 4:30 p.m. in the Paul O’Regan Hall. Film screening of the acclaimed film “Cold War” (with English subtitles) from 2 to 3:30 p.m. Click this link to be taken to a fuller description at the Halifax Public Library site.

Mon., Sept. 25, 6:30 p.m.: Film screening (theme: resistance and conscience) of Andrzej Wajda’s acclaimed film “Man of Marble” (with English subtitles) Boardmore Playhouse, Cape Breton University. A fictional but realistic, fast-paced account of a 1970s journalism student who discovers hidden secrets of the Communist regime. Hosted by CBU Tompkins Institute and the St. Michael’s Polish Benefit Society.

*POSTPONED UNTIL OCTOBER 18 AT 6 P.M. — CAPE BRETON UNIVERSITY MULTI-PURPOSE ROOM (with complimentary light supper)

Wed., Sept. 27, 10:30 a.m. Walking tour of the Kolonia section of Whitney Pier and design workshop for a future Polish “pocket park”. Meet at the corner of Victoria Road and Franklin St., Whitney Pier.

Wed., Sept. 27, 7:30 p.m.: Live virtual tour on Polish immigration experiences, hosted by Pier 21 (Canadian Museum of Immigration). More information to follow on www.PolishMonthNS.ca .

Thurs., Sept. 28: No activities to allow for reflection in honour of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

Throughout the month, please follow the Facebook pages of the Polish Canadian Society of Nova Scotia, the Polish Village Hall (St. Michael’s Polish Benefit Society), St. Mary’s Polish Parish, and the Atlantic Canada District of the Canadian Polish Congress.