Crowds are heading to the Palace of Culture, where the Independence Village (Miasteczko Niepodległości) is operating, and to the Royal Route for the city’s Niepodległa Festival. Runners have started in the Constitution Run. City public transport is bypassing the center. The best option is to take trains or the metro.
Crowds of people of all ages, wearing white-and-red scarves, hats, armbands and wreaths, with cockades pinned to their jackets, are walking to the Palace of Culture and Science and to the Royal Route. Stalls selling white-and-red items have also been set up in the center. Many people are coming to Warsaw by train, and Warsaw Central Station is also full of white and red. Disoriented tourists trying to reach their hotels are wandering among the crowds.
Aleje Jerozolimskie and Marszałkowska are closed, and it is not possible to cross Aleje Jerozolimskie. Volunteers from the march’s security team are stationed at Rondo Dmowskiego, where the Independence March will start at 2 p.m. Police officers are everywhere, showing lost people the way.
Participants in the Independence Run have set out on the course, so Aleja Jana Pawła II, Chałubińskiego and parts of Aleje Niepodległości have been closed to traffic.
Trams and buses are bypassing the city center. Employees at more than 80 ZTM (Warsaw Public Transport Authority) traffic supervision posts and at operators’ posts are working to keep service running smoothly. Today, 14 stationary information officers and 3 mobile information teams are helping passengers.
The Public Transport Authority reminded travelers that the fastest way to get around on the east-west axis is by SKM and Koleje Mazowieckie (Mazovian Railways) trains running between the Zachodnia, Centralna or Śródmieście, and Wschodnia stations.
To make travel easier, all ZTM and Koleje Mazowieckie tickets are being honored on SKM and KM trains within ZTM ticket zone 1.
The main Independence Day observances will take place on Nov. 11 at noon in front of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Streets near Plac Piłsudskiego will be closed to traffic until 2 p.m. Parking restrictions will also apply there throughout the day.
The 36th Independence Run will last until 2:30 p.m. Attractions of the Niepodległa Festival will await visitors on Krakowskie Przedmieście. From 2 p.m. to 8 p.m., the street will be closed to traffic, from Nowy Świat to Trębacka.
At 2 p.m., the Independence March will begin at Rondo Dmowskiego. Participants will walk along Aleje Jerozolimskie, across the Józef Poniatowski Bridge, and along Wybrzeże Szczecińskie and Siwca to the grounds of the National Stadium.
At 5:15 p.m., Warsaw City Hall invites residents to the Citadel for the folk concert “Wspólna Niepodległa” (“Independence Together”). Popular Polish artists will perform folk songs from all 16 voivodeships. Admission is free. From 3 p.m. to 9 p.m., “Wspólna Niepodległa” buses will run from the Pl. Teatralny 02 stop to the Citadel. They will take anyone who wants to attend the concert there and back free of charge. (PAP)
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