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Easter time in Krakow
Easter Palms Contest
It is in Lipnica Murowana during Palm Sunday. A contest for the tallest Easter palm. The current record-breaking palm is 30 meters tall.
Easter Market
It takes place between 27.03- 05.04.2014. One of the most colourful events in Krakow. The Main Market Square turns into an Easter market for visitors and locals alike. Both adults and children enjoy the festive atmosphere of this Easter market. There you can buy or you can make your own “pisanki”. Pisanki are Easter eggs handcrafted in traditional designs that recall pagan symbols of fertility and spring.
Misteria Paschalia Festival
A classical music festival (30.03- 05.04.2015) devoted to famous composers and linked with Holy Week and Easter time. Most important performers: Jordi Savall, OttavioDantone, Christophe Rousset, René Jacobs, Diego Fasolis, Alessandro de Marchi, Paul van Nevel and others.
Cross Road Performace
It is in Kalwaria Zebrzydowska (UNESCO Site) on 03.04.2015. Many pilgrims arrive eager to attend the colourful and realistic Passion Play relating to the last days of Jesus. The performace, regarded as an act of collective catharsis, provides a deeper understanding of traditional Polish Catholicism.
Easter Monday
It is a public holiday (06.04.2015) 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.
Rekawka
It takes place on 07.04.2015 by the church of St. Benedict’s or next to a nearby ancient barrow, Mound of Krak, one the city’s mysterious prehistoric earthworks. The tradition of the festival comes from Pagan times where they would honour the dead. Traditionally the celebration involved scattering coins and sweets which children fought over. There were also bonfires and various contests, from fencing to pole climbing. However, after World War II Rekawka fairs have attracted mostly children with simple amusements, sweets and toys.
