An exceptional weekend is approaching at the Polish Aviation Museum in Kraków, where history will meet the present and passion will meet professionalism. On 7–8 March we invite you to meet women who every day create and co-create the world of aviation, working in professions such as: pilot, flight attendant, aircraft mechanic, air traffic controller and ground handling specialist. The programme includes: inspiring talks, a concert by the Kraków Old Town Orchestra, the opening of a new temporary exhibition “Girls from the Clouds — 95th Anniversary of the 1st Women’s Aviation Rally around Poland”. Participants can also look forward to special guided tours following in the footsteps of women aviators, creative family workshops, an AI photo booth, a mini outdoor game with prizes and a small gift for every woman! All attractions are included in the Museum admission ticket.
This is a unique encounter with professionals who every day are responsible for the safety of thousands of passengers.
The talks by women aviators will testify that there are no exclusively male professions in aviation — women work as pilots, mechanics, controllers and designers just as well as men and can successfully be leaders in these professions.
The detailed programme of presentations and speaker biographies can be found HERE.
As part of Aviation Women’s Day at the Polish Aviation Museum in Kraków, the ceremonial opening of an exceptional temporary exhibition “Girls from the Clouds — 95th Anniversary of the 1st Women’s Aviation Rally around Poland” will take place. The exhibition will be located in Hangar No. 5 — within the space of the new permanent exhibition dedicated to civil aviation.
The temporary exhibition will be centred around the first-ever women’s aviation rally in Polish history, around the borders of the Second Republic, organised in October 1931. The flight covering nearly 3,000 kilometres — through Katowice, Kraków, Lwów, Wilno, Warsaw and Łuck — was an extraordinarily bold undertaking for the realities of the era. Four women pilots: Maria Wardasówna, Maria Lierówna, Danuta Sikorzanka and Wanda Olszewska, flying PZL.5 aircraft, proved that determination, piloting skill and courage have no gender. The rally attracted enormous interest from the press and the public, becoming a symbol of the growing presence of women in aviation and, more broadly, in the public life of the Second Republic.
The display boards will present numerous unique photographs documenting both the course of the rally and the aviation biographies of its participants. A special place in the exhibition will be occupied by the figure of Maria Wardasówna (1907–1986) — an aeroplane and glider pilot, one of the first women aviators from Silesia. The panel exhibition will be enriched by original memorabilia of hers lent by the Gustaw Morcinek Museum in Skoczów, which in autumn 2025 showed them to the public for the first time at the exhibition “Maryśka from Silesia — A Remembrance of Maria Wardas”. Aviation Women’s Day in Kraków will be an opportunity for a wide audience to see these exceptional objects in the context of the history of Polish civil aviation.
You can read more about the exhibition HERE.
We also invite you to special guided tours dedicated to the female traces in aviation:
Our guides will talk about the first women pilots who had to overcome many obstacles and break many stereotypes to earn their place in an initially exclusively male profession. We will also show female inspirations and themes in aviation.
Would you like to find out when the first woman flew a combat aircraft, what the legendary English Second World War fighter Spitfire has to do with the role of women in aviation, who the Night Witches were, what Jadwiga Piłsudska was famous for, what a small amateur aircraft called the Kukułka has to do with women in aviation?… Be sure to take advantage of the guided tours available only during the Aviation Women’s Day weekend!
On Saturday 7 March from 15:30 to 16:30 in the Main Building, traditional melodies performed by the Kraków Old Town Orchestra will fill the air. The concert “To the Ladies’ Health!” will be a joyful and positively energetic conclusion to the first day of the Aviation Women’s Day weekend — a musical toast to the courage, passion and determination of women in aviation.
The orchestra, founded in 1988 by Wiesław Olejniczak, is renowned for its distinctive big-band sound and stage performances appreciated by audiences. The ensemble has successfully represented Kraków at numerous festivals and international projects — from Austria and France to Spain and Italy — and its concerts always have an atmosphere of communal celebration.
On Sunday 8 March, from 10:00 to 16:00, Hangar No. 5 will transform into a space of creative fun for entire families. Visitors will be able to take part in a series of inspiring workshops that combine a passion for aviation with creative activities developing imagination and artistic abilities:
Also on Sunday 8 March, from 10:00 to 16:00, in Hangar No. 5, you can look forward to, among other things:
For the youngest visitors and beyond, we have also prepared a mini outdoor game with prizes that will allow you to discover the female world of aviation in an engaging and interactive way — both on Saturday and Sunday.
An important complement to the Aviation Women’s Day celebrations will be the launch of the bilingual (Polish and English texts) publication “Women in Polish Aviation. Biographies, Part 1”, prepared by the Polish Aviation Museum in Kraków. The publication introduces the fascinating profiles of the first Polish women pilots — courageous and uncompromising women who began their aviation careers in the realities of the Second Republic, and sometimes even before the outbreak of the First World War. Short, dynamic biographies are enriched with extensive photographic material presenting both the women aviators themselves and the memorabilia associated with them preserved in the Museum’s collections. The publication opens a broader publishing series aimed at creating the most complete possible portrait of “the ladies of Polish aviation”. The book will be available for purchase at the museum shop.
We invite you to Aviation Women’s Day at the Polish Aviation Museum in Kraków! A small, thoughtful gift is prepared for every lady visiting the Museum this weekend.
