A bronze statue of Ignacy Jan Paderewski stands on the steps of the Carnegie Library in Downtown City Park. At 2 p.m. this Saturday, November 7, people will gather there to lay a wreath at its base. The ceremony is free and needs no ticket, according to the Paso Robles Daily News. The wreath-laying isn't on the festival's own posted schedule, so anyone planning the weekend from the official website alone won't see it.
The Paderewski Festival runs Friday through Sunday, November 6 to 8, in Paso Robles and San Luis Obispo. Its biggest ticket of the weekend is a symphony concert 30 miles south. The events that stay in Paso Robles are mostly daytime, mostly free or free with a reservation, and almost all of them sit within a few blocks of the park.
Saturday night's big concert is in San Luis Obispo
The gala is called "Keys of Grandeur," and it's a joint program with the San Luis Obispo Symphony at the Performing Arts Center's Harold Miossi Hall in San Luis Obispo. Pianist Hyunjin Roh, who won the 2025 Paderewski International Piano Competition in Bydgoszcz, Poland, plays Beethoven's "Emperor" Concerto. Music Director Andrew Sewell also conducts the Mazurka from Moniuszko's "Halka" and Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6, "Pathétique." A pre-concert talk starts at 6:30 p.m. and the concert at 7:30 p.m. Tickets on the Performing Arts Center's event page run $12 to $92.
Patron Pass holders ride a private round-trip bus from Paso Robles to the performance. If you don't hold a pass, Saturday night in Paso Robles goes to the galleries, which is the next section.
A Saturday that fits inside one downtown block
Paso Robles' own Saturday schedule runs from late morning to evening without leaving the area around the park. Here's the day in order, with the access rules each organizer posted.
| Time | Event | Where | Access |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 a.m. | Film: "Poland – A Musical Self-Portrait" | Park Cinema | Reservation through the festival |
| 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. | $30 downtown dining voucher | Participating restaurants around the park | Patron and Friends of Paderewski pass holders |
| 2 p.m. | Wreath-laying at the Paderewski statue | Carnegie Library steps, City Park | Free, no ticket |
| 3 p.m. | Youth Competition Winners' Concert | Park Ballroom | Reservation required |
| 6 to 9 p.m. | Art After Dark | Downtown galleries | Open walk |
The film is a 2025 documentary by Magdalena Zięba-Schwind and runs 54 minutes, so it ends in time for lunch downtown. The Youth Competition Winners' Concert features young pianists from the festival's competition. Auditions were held October 11 at Park Ballroom in two age groups, 10 to 14 and 15 to 18, with prizes from $100 to $750. The festival's competition page calls the concert ticketed. The Daily News calls it free. Both sources say you need a reservation, so book through the festival's schedule page before you go.
Art After Dark is the monthly first-Saturday art walk. According to Park Street Gallery, participating galleries include Park Street Gallery at 1320 Park Street, Studios on the Park, Deprise Brescia Art Gallery and Dale Evers Studio, with light refreshments and artists on hand. This year the first Saturday of November is also festival Saturday, so the galleries open three hours after the youth concert ends, a short walk away.
Why the statue is there
The park schedule makes sense once you know how long Paderewski was part of this town. The festival's history of Paderewski in Paso Robles says he visited many times between 1914 and 1939. He stayed at the El Paso Hotel, now the Paso Robles Inn, and took cures in the local hot springs.
He bought his first land here in February 1914. He eventually owned 2,864 acres across two ranches, Rancho San Ignacio and Rancho Santa Helena, a tract about three miles east to west and four miles north to south. He planted Zinfandel grapes, almonds and fruit trees. The Daily News places that land on the city's west side and notes that he was among the first to plant Zinfandel in California.
The festival began in Paso Robles in 1993 and was relaunched in 2006 under the leadership of the Polish Music Center at USC. It also helped build the sister-city relationship between Paso Robles and the Tarnów region of Poland. This year's opening day, Friday, November 6, is the 166th anniversary of Paderewski's birth.
Friday and Sunday each have a free event and a Park Ballroom concert
The weekend opens and closes with the same mix as Saturday. Each day has something free and something at Park Ballroom.
On Friday, Hyunjin Roh leads a master class from 4 to 5:30 p.m. in Room 218 of Cal Poly's Davidson Music Center. It's free, no ticket is needed, and it's open to the public along with Cal Poly students, this year's Polish exchange students and competition participants. That evening, the Cracow Duo, cellist Jan Kalinowski and pianist Marek Szlezer, joins violinist Grace Seng at Park Ballroom. A wine reception with Epoch Estate Wines starts at 7 p.m. and the concert at 7:30 p.m. The festival lists the program as music by Paderewski and more. Friday's concert is ticketed or included with a pass.
Sunday ends the festival at the same ballroom:
- 9:30 a.m. Patron and Friends of Paderewski brunch at Park Ballroom, for pass holders only.
- 11 a.m. Youth Cultural Exchange Concert at Park Ballroom, free with a reservation. Two young pianists from Poland, Mikołaj Brzostowicz and Piotr Pączkowski, perform works by Paderewski, Chopin, MacDowell, Barber and Liszt.
The exchange behind Sunday's concert has linked young musicians in California and Poland since 2009, according to the Daily News. Artistic Director Marek Zebrowski explained the community side of the festival in an interview the Paso Robles Daily News quoted:
"Arts cannot exist in a vacuum. They must be sustained by the communities in the widest sense of this term."
The festival is organized by a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, and its support page describes it as completely volunteer run. Tickets, reservations and passes are all on the festival website. The Friends of Paderewski Pass covers the Friday and Saturday concerts, the Sunday brunch and the dining voucher.
Other events across town the same weekend
Two other events run the same weekend, both away from the park.
The Garagiste Festival is in Paso Robles on November 6 and 7. Friday's Rare & Reserve tasting and buffet dinner runs from 6:30 to 9 p.m. at the AVA Hotel, 944 Pine Street, and costs $95. Saturday's main event moves to Estrella Hall at the Paso Event Center, 2198 Riverside Avenue. Tickets are listed at $165 for VIP, $99 for Early Access, $79 for the Grand Tasting and $29 for the Rockin' After-Party. The festival brings in more than 50 micro-production Paso winemakers pouring over 200 wines, plus a VIP seminar on Italian grape varieties.
On Saturday, Estrella Warbirds Museum hosts the Warbirds Wheels & Wings Car Show, with historic aircraft and classic cars on display together.
So on November 7, the paid wine tasting is out on Riverside Avenue and the airplanes and cars are at the museum. The free Paderewski events and the art walk stay around the park.
The next park evening is a week later
The downtown calendar keeps going after the festival. Elegant Evening Downtown is Saturday, November 14, from 5 to 8 p.m. Downtown Main Street and local merchants organize it as a free kickoff to holiday shopping. Park Street Gallery says businesses around the park will offer holiday specials and light refreshments. The entertainment includes live Nutcracker mannequins from North County Dance and Performing Arts Center. Art After Dark returns on the first Saturday of each month.
Our team at The Franklin Team follows weekends like this one because owners around downtown Paso Robles ask us how the park calendar affects their homes and rentals. If you own near City Park and are curious what your property is worth this fall, request a home valuation and we'll walk you through it in plain terms.
