Polish culture and hospitality will be on display Friday through Sunday, Oct. 12-14, at the St. Maximilian Kolbe Roman Catholic Church fundraiser at 1735 Grand Ave. in Pacific Beach.  
The annual Polish Fest is a tribute to Polish heritage and pride. The event includes live performances by Polish folk dancers and various musical bands. 
Polish cuisine and genuine imported Polish beer will be sold. Also available for purchase at the church mission site will be a variety of commemorative event T-shirts, hats and other apparel.
“This annual fundraising event is one of the most popular ethnic festivals in the Pacific Beach area, attracting people from all around San Diego as well as international visitors who want to get a taste of what Poland is all about,” said St. Maximilian Kolbe spokeswoman Agnieszka Giacalone.
St. Maximilian was built in 1995 in Pacific Beach to serve the Polish community, a large number of whom emigrated from their native land during the Solidarity labor-union movement of the 1990s.
The church is named for St. Maximilian Kolbe, a Franciscan friar and World War II-era hero who voluntarily sacrificed himself in the place of a stranger at the infamous Auschwitz concentration camp.
Kolbe provided shelter to refugees from Greater Poland, including 2,000 Jews, whom he hid from Nazi persecution in his friary until he was arrested by the German Gestapo and imprisoned. While imprisoned, Kolbe volunteered to take the place of a man condemned to be starved to death. 
In his cell, Kolbe led men in songs and prayer. After three weeks of dehydration and starvation, only he and three others were still alive. He was murdered with an injection of carbolic acid.
Event admission is $5. Those under age 16 are admitted free.
For more information, visit polishmission.org/festival/index.php. Polish Festival
St. Maximilian Koble Roman Catholic Church, 1735 Grand Ave., Oct. 12-14
Hours: Friday: 5 to 11:30 p.m., Saturday 2 to 11 p.m.; Sunday noon to 5 p.m.
Admission: $5