The visit program includes: Constitution Parade in Chicago, Polish flag raising ceremony at Daley Plaza, “Mazowsze” concert at Copernicus Center, meeting with the Polish American Congress, and in Canada – celebrations at the Patriot Monument in Mississauga and the symbolic illumination of Niagara Falls in white and red. This is one of the most extensive Polonia programs carried out by a high-ranking Polish state official in recent years.
Thursday evening: meeting with the Kościuszko Foundation
The Senate Marshal’s visit begins on Thursday, April 30, at 6:00 PM local time with a meeting closed to the media with representatives of the Kościuszko Foundation in Chicago. The Foundation, established in 1925, is one of the oldest institutions connecting Poland with the American Polonia, running scholarship programs, academic exchanges, and supporting Polish culture in the States.
Friday: Kościuszko Monument, Daley Plaza, PASO and Mazowsze
The first day open to the media is Friday, May 1. At 9:30 AM, the Marshal will lay a wreath at the Tadeusz Kościuszko Monument on East Solidarity Drive – a point that has been the heart of Chicago’s Polonia topography for decades. A speech is planned. At 12:00 PM, a ceremony for raising the flag of the Republic of Poland will take place at Daley Plaza in the very center of the city, on Washington Street. The ceremony traditionally gathers hundreds of Polonia members and representatives of Chicago authorities.
At 3:10 PM, the Marshal will visit the Polish National Alliance on North Cicero Avenue – one of the oldest and most influential Polish-American organizations in the States, founded in 1880. At 5:00 PM, she will meet with Polish-American youth at the Paderewski Academy on North Lawler Avenue, where the PASO symphony orchestra operates. In the evening, at 7:00 PM, the Marshal will meet with Hubert Cioromski, president of the Polish American Congress, at the Copernicus Center on West Lawrence Avenue. On the same evening, at 8:00 PM, in the same hall, a concert by the legendary “Mazowsze” ensemble – the Polish State Folk Dance and Song Ensemble – will take place, performing for the first time in years for the Chicago Polonia audience.
Saturday: breakfast and Constitution Parade
Saturday, May 2, is the central moment of the visit. At 9:45 AM, a ceremonial breakfast will be held at the Congress Plaza Hotel on South Michigan Avenue before the May 3rd Constitution Parade, during which the Senate Marshal will deliver a speech. At 11:30 AM, the Marshal will join the parade march at the intersection of Balbo and Columbus Drive. The May 3rd Constitution Parade in Chicago is one of the largest Polish-American parades in the United States, alongside the Pulaski Parade in New York. Every year, it gathers thousands of participants and spectators, and its route through Grant Park and downtown is one of the most politically visible Polish-American events.
Saturday evening: Niagara Falls in white and red
On the same Saturday evening, the Marshal will travel to Canada. At 10:00 PM local time (one hour difference from Chicago), a symbolic ceremony will take place to illuminate Niagara Falls in white and red to mark Polish Flag Day. The event has been organized by the Canadian Polonia for several years and has become one of the most visually recognizable Polish celebrations abroad.
Sunday: Haller’s Army Cemetery, mass in Mississauga, Patriot Monument
Sunday, May 3, Constitution Day itself, is a day filled with celebrations in Canada. At 9:00 AM, the Marshal will lay a wreath at Haller’s Army Cemetery in Niagara-on-the-Lake, where Polish volunteers from General Józef Haller’s Army, who fought alongside France in World War I, are buried. At 11:00 AM, she will participate in a solemn Holy Mass for the Homeland at St. Maximilian Kolbe Parish in Mississauga.
At 12:20 PM, the Marshal will speak at the Patriot Monument at the John Paul II Polish Cultural Center in Mississauga. In the afternoon, there will be a meeting with the Cultural Center’s Board of Directors, a meeting with the local Polonia, and at 3:30 PM, a media briefing. The John Paul II Center in Mississauga is one of the largest Polish-Canadian institutions, visited annually by tens of thousands of people.
What this means for the American Polonia
Marshal Kidawa-Błońska’s visit to Chicago falls in a year when the May 3rd Constitution Parade in Chicago celebrates its decades of uninterrupted existence. The presence of such a high-ranking representative of the Polish state – the Speaker of the Senate, the second person in the state after the president – is a signal that Warsaw treats Chicago’s Polonia as a political and cultural partner. All events with the Marshal’s participation, apart from meetings with the Kościuszko Foundation and President Cioromski, are open to the media and the public.
Editorial Staff, Voice of Polonia in the USA
Visit of the Marshal of the Senate of the Republic of Poland, Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska, to the United States and Canada | Date: April 30 – May 3, 2026 (Thursday–Sunday) | Cities: Chicago (USA), Niagara Falls and Mississauga (Canada) | Key events in Chicago: meeting with the Kościuszko Foundation (Thursday evening), Kościuszko Monument on East Solidarity Drive (Friday 9:30 AM), Daley Plaza – flag raising ceremony of the Republic of Poland (Friday 12:00 PM), Polish National Alliance on N. Cicero Ave (Friday 3:10 PM), Paderewski Academy with the PASO orchestra (Friday 5:00 PM), Copernicus Center – meeting with Hubert Cioromski, president of the PAC (Friday 7:00 PM) and “Mazowsze” concert (Friday 8:00 PM), Congress Plaza Hotel – breakfast before the parade (Saturday 9:45 AM), May 3rd Constitution Parade – march at the intersection of Balbo and Columbus Drive (Saturday 11:30 AM) | In Canada: illumination of Niagara Falls in white and red (Saturday 10:00 PM local time), Haller’s Army Cemetery in Niagara-on-the-Lake (Sunday 9:00 AM), Holy Mass at St. Maximilian Kolbe Parish in Mississauga (Sunday 11:00 AM), Patriot Monument at the John Paul II Polish Cultural Center (Sunday 12:20 PM), meeting with the Board of Directors of the PCC (1:20 PM), meeting with local Polonia (1:30 PM), media briefing (3:30 PM)
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