The difficult-to-pronounce Polish word dożynki means harvest festival. Its tradition hasn’t disappeared to this day and you can experience that by coming to the villages near Kraków in late August and early September.

Sacrum and profanum

Although pronouncing the word dożynki for those who don’t know Polish can be quite a challenge, participating in the event itself is pure pleasure! A joyful celebration accompanies the end of the harvest in the fields and orchards. It used to fall at the time of the autumn solstice, but now it’s usually organised a few weeks earlier.

No harvest festival is complete without the traditional wreaths, which are woven from crops decorated with field flowers. It is also compulsory to bake bread using flour produced from this year’s harvest. The feast parade, which is also a regular feature of the programme, is attended by local residents dressed in regional costumes. They usually walk from the church, where the priest is celebrating a thanksgiving service, to the site of secular event. It first has a ceremonial part, during which the starost and the matron of honour accept this year’s harvest from the participants in the procession. The gifts of the earth are ‘sung’ over. Harvest chants, some of which have been transferred from one generation to another, express joy that the grain is already in the barn, and respect for God’s gifts and human labour. There are also chants that demonstrate the authors’ distance from themselves and the others.
Afterwards, it’s time for performances by local folk groups, a short show reminiscent of ancient rituals, feasting and fun together. Stalls set up at the venue offer folk handicrafts and traditional, simple dishes. This can include, for example, bigos (a dish of shredded sauerkraut and cabbage cooked with various meats), a slice of bread with a local spread, pickles, dishes made from local vegetables, dumplings and a variety of cakes.

Harvest festival in the ‘Kraków bagel’

Bagel (obwarzanek) is a type of dry bread typical of Kraków with a ring-like shape. It was this particular shape that also gave the name to the 14 municipalities surrounding Kraków, the region’s capital. Together, the municipalities of the ‘bagel’ form the Kraków Metropolis. As many as nine of them are holding traditional harvest festivals this year. The Zielonki municipality even became the host of the Małopolskie Voivodeship Harvest Festival. The harvest festival in the municipality of Wielka Wieś is the most elaborate and spread in time. The Zabierzów municipality announced the longest feast: the closing dance party there lasted until two o’clock in the morning. Our overview can help those who want to take a closer look at the living Polish tradition to choose a place and time.

A small guide to the harvest festival in the municipalities of the Kraków Metropolis

27.08, 12.00, Zielonki
Pitch of LKS Zieleńczanka, ul. Do Cegielni
Małopolskie Voivodeship Harvest Festival
The programme includes: a field mass and blessing of wreaths, presentation of the Harvest Festival starost and matron of honour and presentation of bread to the hosts, harvest wreath competition of traditional and modern wreaths, performances by processions in the Kraków folk costumes, artistic part, dance party. Regional stands will be open during the celebrations.

15.08–4.09, Harvest Festival in the villages of the Wielka Wieś municipality
The municipality has prepared six Harvest Festival events in the villages: Giebułtów (15.08, after the mass at 15.00), Bębło (20.08, after the mass at 17.00), Biały Kościół (21.08, after the mass at 15.00), Szyce (27.08, 9.00–13.00, harvest festival combined with the Wielowiejski Targ fair), Modlnica (27.08, after the mas at 16.00) and Będkowice (4.09, after the mass at 16.00). Each event is attended by local residents dressed in folk costumes who present traditional rituals and chants.

28.08, 11.00, Rzeszotary, Świątniki Górne municipality
After the opening mass in the parish church in Rzeszotary at 12.00, the parade will proceed to the LKS Tempo Rzeszotary stadium, where at 14.00 the harvest ceremonies and the party will begin.

28.08, 11.00–22.00, Igołomia-Wawrzeńczyce municipality
After a thanksgiving mass in the church of Mary Magdalene and St Sigismund in Wawrzeńczyce at noon, having toured the entire parish, the procession reaches the village of Żydów, where, after the wreaths are sung over, the festive party begins.

28.08, 13.30, Wilczkowice, Michałowice municipality
The harvest festival ceremonies will begin after an open-air mass on the field by the fire station at the Wilczkowice voluntary fire brigade.

3.09, 14.30, Wielkie Drogi, Skawina municipality
In this municipality, unlike many others, the harvest festival begins not with a mass, but with a colourful procession that sets off from under the library in Wielkie Drogi. Immediately after the open-air mass at 15.00 and the traditional ceremonies, a dance party will begin at the LKS Trzebol Wielkie Drogi pitch.

The municipalities of Wieliczka and Czernichów are also holding harvest festivals. In Zabierzów, it was organised on August 20.