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Easter in Krakow
Easter, the paramount Christian feast, has a
special meaning and a distinct quality in
springtime Krakow with its rich Catholic
traditions and abundance of beautiful churches. In the ancient
capital of Poland the festival spreads over four
days.
Holy Saturday
On Ester Eve everybody, notably children, visits
the parish church with a basket of the
traditional Easter foodstuff–bread, eggs, ham,
sausages, and a piece of horseradish–to have
them consecrated by priest. It is also the
occasion to see ‘the grave of the Lord
Jesus’, arranged in a chapel or a crypt, by
which scouts, firefighters, the military, etc.
stand guard of honor. And the faithful keep long
vigils.
Easter
Easter Sunday traditionally remains quiet and
confined to the family and the church. First
thing in the morning the faithful attend a
predawn or very early Resurrection service. Then
the whole family has the festive common breakfast
featuring the victuals consecrated at the church
on Holy Saturday, with the ‘pisanki’
Easter eggs–hardboiled and painted–as the
highlight.
Easter Monday
Easter Monday is a public holiday in Poland,
customarily devoted to amusement and socializing.
Krakow’s chief venue remains the centuries-old Emaus
fair. Universal Poland’s tradition is ‘smingus-dyngus’,
i.e. splashing water over one another on the
Easter Monday; teenagers do it in the streets
with zest and by bucketful. At the same time you
may come across the ‘smigusnicy’ masqueraders.
Krakow’s Easter Monday’s Emaus fair
has drawn since the Middle Ages joyful crowds to
the Zwierzyniec area by the 800-year-old convent of St. Norbert's Premonstratensian
order. The fair stems from the ancient
celebration of the All Souls Day, moved later to
November 2 in the church calendar. And not so
long ago during the fiesta innumerable stands and
stalls sold clay bells against evil spirits,
magical wooden hatchets, and toy birds
representing souls. Now they trade mostly in
homely sweets and junk toys. Yet the Emaus
fair remained for Krakow dwellers the family
Easter outing of choice, mostly beloved by
children. And teenagers find it perfect for
drenching each other with water, which is
Poland’s favorite Easter Monday sport.
Easter Tuesday
On Tuesday after Easter another Krakow
centuries-old fair, Rekawka, takes place
by the church of St. Benedict’s atop the Lasota
Hill south of the city center, near the ancient Mound of Krak, one the city’s
mysterious prehistoric earthworks. The fiesta
probably has roots in pagan rites in honor of the
dead celebrated here in the Dark Ages. Its
feature used to be scattering coins and sweets
that boys fought over. There were also bonfires
and various contests, from fencing to pole
climbing. After WW II yearly Rekawka
fairs have attracted mostly children with simple
amusements and cheap sweets and toys overflowing
stalls. There are efforts recently to reinvent
and enliven the fiesta. Profusion of social
gatherings around Easter, from formal banquets to
wild parties, with the common theme of
egg-sharing and well-wishing is relatively new
feature of Krakow’s Easter festival.
Holy
Week’s yearly Ludwig van Beethoven Easter
Festival has managed to bring world-class
classical-music acts to Krakow in the recent
years and became the season’s cultural
highlight.
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Emaus fiesta
has drawn crowds since the Middle
Ages
Krakow
Festivals
Hardly a month passes in Krakow
without some time-honored
occasion for common festivities
or colorful celebration
Christmas in
Krakow
Why the ancient capital
of Poland deserves a title of the
world capital of Christmas.
Krakow Folk
Traditions
Krakow region has always been
rich in colorful folk traditions,
handed down from generation to
generation.
Krakow's
centuries-old fiesta of Rekawka:
scattering coins and sweets that
boys fought over was once its
feature.
News
Updates on upcoming
events.
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