Medical students to celebrate St Patrick's Day in Poland

Ireland's future doctors will be injecting the city of Bydgoszcz, Poland with a welcome dose of Irish spirit as they celebrate St Patrick’s weekend in the Polish city.

The students, who come from all over Ireland are studing medicine and veterinary in some of Poland’s most beautiful cities, including Wroclaw, Poznan and Bydgoszcz. From the 18th to the 20th of March they will be bringing the craic and the culture to the streets of Bydgoszcz, a city roughly the size of Cork.

“Our aim is to showcase the best of both countries” says Máirín-Rua Ní Aodha, a Cork student studing veterinary medicine in Wroclaw and project manager for the event. “We want to introduce the Poles to some of the great things Ireland has to offer; food, music, dance, history and folklore. We also want to build a connection, Poland has such a rich history, in some cases quite similar to our own. It will be a cross culture celebration, there will be an Irish vs Polish chef cookoff, there will be Irish and Polish folk dancers comparing moves, all toppped off by a parade commemerating Polish and irish folklore and history. I have lived in Poland for the last 6 monthes and am dying to show it off to everyone back home!”

The medical university in Bydgoszcz – Collegium Medicum is also going to show its facilities to Irish candidates who are flying to Poland to see the city on Friday 18th March.

“It was an opportunity I couldn’t miss to combine the two things I love” says Adam Krawczyk, founder of Medical Poland, an agency for Irish students in Poland and organiser of the event. “I live in Dublin and am a huge fan of Irish culture and Irish people. However I grew up in Bydgoszcz so know first hand what a fantastic city it is. Putting the two together seemed natural to me. There are so many reasons to visit Poland, it’s accessible, it’s got a really interesting history, there’s so much to see and it’s so much cheaper than Ireland! Not to mention you can fly directly to Bydgoszcz from Dublin. That’s why we are inviting Irish people to come and celebrate St. Patrick’s weekend in Bydgoszcz, it is a unique event and the very first of its scale in Poland.”

Events over the weekend will include a world premier screening of the documentry “Easter Rising Project”, which tells the story of a polish runner who ran over 430km through Ireland to commemorate the rising. There will also be games and competitions for competitive patriots, including a prize for Best Costume and Best Photo.

The event is supported strongly by local tourist organisation who published weekend celebrations’ programme, city council and schools in the area. There will be package deals available in local hotels for Irish visitors and specail offers available throughout the weekend.

For more information on the event and accomodation please go to www.medicalpoland.ie or see the Medical Poland Facebook page.