It is an annual event, normally taking place in the second half of September and lasts for 8 days.

The first years of the festival, reaching back to the late 1950s, was a period of particular magnificence.

From the beginning of its existence the festival's program foundations were clear.

The festival's leading aim was (and is) to present new music from Poland and around the world.

Adrian Thomas notes that the music performed at Warsaw Autumn between 1958 and 1961 "clearly charts the process of informing Polish audiences and composers of what was happening in the West.