24-26 June 2016 (Friday-Sunday), 10am-10pm

Golden Age

We’ll be taken back in to the Renaissance, to the golden age of the late Jagiellonian dynasty with this year’s St John’s Fair. Held between 24 and 26 June, the event will be dedicated to the reigns of kings Sigismund the Old and Sigismund August.

The “Sigismund era” was a period of blossoming economy, science, culture and the arts. Nicolaus Copernicus “stopped the Sun and moved the Earth”, authors started writing in Polish and cities grew in power. The capital of the powerful nation was the 30,000-strong Kraków, bustling with international trade and hosting grand spectacles: the Prussian Homage, marches of victorious Polish armies and royal processions with splendid pageants. The nation which made the greatest mark on 16th-century Poland, in particular Kraków, was Italy, thanks to Sigismund the Old’s love of all things Italian – his wife Bona Sforza, Italian art and even vegetables.

Ready to travel back in time to this glorious century? King Sigismund invites all Cracovians to a grand ball by Wawel, held on Friday evening and made all the more splendid with a courtly theatre and musicians. We’ll be taken into darker corners of Renaissance Kraków by Kacper Ryx: the literary detective becomes the protagonist of a historical urban game. To make sure midsummer traditions are met, on Saturday afternoon there will be a competition for the most beautiful garland. And of course the three-day event will be filled with market stalls, arts and crafts workshops and delicious victuals. Simply la dolce vita! (Artur Jackowski, "Karnet" monthly)

www.jarmarkswietojanski.eu