Lesser Poland Events

Lesser Poland’s calendar is the richest in Poland, and Krakow in particular keeps traditions that exist nowhere else.

Krakow nativity cribs — December

The szopki krakowskie competition, held since 1937 and UNESCO-listed, is unlike any other Christmas tradition. Makers build towering, brilliantly coloured constructions from wood, cardboard and tinfoil, modelled not on a stable but on Krakow’s own churches and towers, with the nativity tucked inside among historical and topical figures. On the first Thursday of December the makers carry them to the market square, set them out around the Adam Mickiewicz monument at noon, and are then judged; the winners go on show at the city museum for the rest of the winter. Whole families have entered for generations.

Lajkonik — June

A week after the June feast of Boze Cialo, a bearded man in Tatar costume astride a hobby horse dances through the streets from Zwierzyniec to the market square, striking onlookers with a mace for luck. It commemorates a thirteenth-century Mongol raid and has been performed for centuries.

Jewish Culture Festival — late June and July

Nine days in Kazimierz of concerts, workshops and lectures, ending with an open-air concert on Szeroka Street. It is one of the largest festivals of Jewish culture in the world and has run since 1988.

Easter in the villages — March or April

Lesser Poland keeps Easter customs that have largely faded elsewhere. Palm Sunday brings competitions for the tallest decorated palm — woven willow and dried flowers, some of them many metres high — at Lipnica Murowana and Rabka. On Easter Monday, smigus-dyngus involves throwing water over people, with considerable enthusiasm in the countryside, and the Kalwaria Zebrzydowska passion play draws tens of thousands over Holy Week.

Through the year

Wianki on midsummer night, with wreaths floated on the Vistula under Wawel; All Saints’ Day on 1 November, when the Rakowicki cemetery fills with candles; and the Christmas market on the main square through Advent.