This chapter attempts to present the characteristics of the Gdańsk Siesta Festival in terms of interactions between three key elements: the site of the event, manners of arranging and organising the event, as well as its participants. The main research concern revolves around the presence of a phenomenon referred to as the spirit of the place (genius loci) at the location of the festival, which coincides with the multicultural idea of the Siesta Festival. The primary research method applied in the article is the genetic-historical approach in the social sciences, while the techniques applied include critical text analysis and participant observation. The chapter has three main sections analysing the following: the urban space of Gdańsk impacted by historical and cultural elements, the idea of the event, manner of its organisation plus the logistics, and the festival community. As a result of the study, it was established that the unique, multicultural urban space, which glorifies individual freedom, is definitely conducive to the festival's main idea, which is based on the participants’ openness to experiencing other cultures.

Keywords: Gdańsk, Siesta Festival, world music, Marcin Kydryński, Pomeranian Philharmonic

1. Introduction

The Gdańsk Lotos Siesta Festival, a music event, referring by its symbolic name to the time-honoured celebration of family ties and long moments of afternoon relaxation, has been continuously finding its place in the calendar of the most distinctive and intriguing artistic events organised in Gdańsk since 2011. The Siesta Festival is an exceptional moment in time. The event is addressed to an audience reading a specific cultural code, one which has been inspired and filled with meaning by Marcin Kydryński, the festival's musical director, an enthusiast and promoter of open culture. The multitude of messages, among other things constituted by Lusophone inspirations, the flamenco trend, the aesthetics presented by the heritage of the Sephardic diaspora, which continues to be based on the cultivation of the Ladino dialect, or vast jazz inspirations, has become the indisputable trademark of the festival. The culture of the southern seas arrives via a symbolic, maritime route as well, through the “Queen of the Baltic” (Konopczyński 2014)—the city of Gdańsk, to a Central European country, to an audience inspired by diversity, one that can enjoy the moment of an undoubted “festivity of happy music” (Kydryński 2018: 53) and at the same time reach out to cultural content other than native Slavic themes.