There were people among the music society of Bydgoszcz for whom Paderewski’s oeuvre was live and worthy of popularization. Jerzy Sulikowski, Professor of the Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz and Gdańsk and Henryk Martenka, a journalist at the “Ilustrowany Kurier Polski” both undertook the struggle to reintroduce the competition. The Ministry of Culture and the Arts, the Feliks Nowowiejski Academy of Music, the I. J. Paderewski Pomeranian Philharmonic and the Voivodeship Office and the City Office in Bydgoszcz all helped organize and finance the competition, which took place from 16 to 26 October, 1986 in the concert hall of the Pomeranian Philharmonic.
Twenty seven candidates, representing all important academic centers (Warsaw, Gdańsk, Poznań, Katowice, Wrocław, Bydgoszcz) entered the competition and 19 participants competed during the eliminations.