Looking for something to do this Easter weekend? we bring you a summary of Kraków’s traditional Easter events, the Easter Fair, Emaus and Rekąwka festivals and more.
Easter events summary (full details below)
21st March – 1st April – Easter Fair
23rd March Easter Fair – Opening Ceremony
25th March – 1st April – Misteria Paschalia Festival
30th March – Traditional blessing of food
1st April – Emaus Fair
1st April – Śmigus dyngus
2nd April – Rękawka Fair
Easter Fair (Jarmark Wielkanocny)
21st March – 1st April,
10am-8pm (some traders may stay open until midnight)
One of the highlights of the Easter period, the popular and colourful Easter Fair on Rynek. The Easter market consists of 84 kiosks selling Easter arts and crafts, painted eggs and all things Easter, together with a programme of traditional performances.
You can read more about the Easter market on krakow.pl
Fair program:
Saturday, March 23, at 1:00 p.m. – opening ceremony
Sunday, March 24 – The Folkloristic Association “Teatr Regionalny” will present Easter palms, followed by artistic programs and Easter rituals performed by authentic amateur regional bands and folk groups. The teams will meet at the Barbican at 11.15. A colorful procession with palm trees will go around the fair to the church of St. Wojciech, where at At 11.45 the palms will be blessed, and then the bands will perform on the stage in the Main Square. Same day from At 10.00 there will be a competition for a traditional Easter palm.
Saturday, March 30, at 12.00 – solemn blessing of Easter baskets with the participation of the city authorities and the Krakow church
Monday, April 1, at 2:00 p.m. – we invite you to the market square, where “Siuda Baba” will smear soot and look for her successors.
Information & Programme for the Easter Fair 2024 (Polish)
Easter Fair Programme (English & Polish)
Palm Sunday
Procession of palms with participants in traditional costumes, from Barbikan to Rynek. Following the procession the palms are blessed in front ofthe Church of St. Adalbert (St. Wojciech)
Misteria Paschalia Festival
25th March -1st April
Various locations
The 21st edition of the Misteria Paschalia Festival will take place, this year the program will focus on celebrating the history of the festival. Misteria Paschalia is one of the most important early music festivals in Europe, which since 2004 has been discovering and presenting compositions related to the times of Holy Week and Easter.
Additional information and the program can be found on the website of the Misteria Paschalia festival .
Traditional Easter Food Blessing
Saturday 30th March
12pm
Rynek Główny
On Saturday, 30th March at 12:00 there will be a ceremonial blessing of Easter baskets with the participation of the authorities of the City and the Krakow Church.
After years of break, a table with Easter dishes will be set up for Krakow residents and tourists to enjoy. Prior to the blessing, from 10:00 a.m., the Rural Women’s Clubs will present their Easter dishes on tables set near the stage. These dishes will be available for purchase.
Emaus
Monday 1st APRIL
09:00 – 17:00
Błonia
The Emaus Indulgence festival, (Odpust Emaus) traditionally takes place on Easter Monday in Salwator, however for the first time in it’s history, it will be held at a different temporary location on Błonia, due to the extensive roadworks in Salwator.
Emaus consists of a parade, and several stalls lining the street, offering a selection of food, toys and treats, arts and crafts. In recent years it was largely tacky cheap plastic toys and balloons on sale, but in a move to return to more traditional items, the new organisers are making efforts to get rid of the junk.
Emaus’ origins date back to the 12th century, and the atmosphere of a colourful fair known today was formed in the 19th century. The event then became a place where sweets and traditional folk toys were sold, including figurines, popular Easter decorations, Easter eggs and characteristic for Krakow Emaus trees carved in wood and decorated with wooden birds and colourful flowers.
In recent years, due to the flood of mass-produced toys and the blurring of many typically Krakow traditions, the indulgence has lost much of its authenticity. Instead of handicrafts, it was more common to find imported, plastic products that have nothing to do with the tradition of craftsmanship, nor with folk or Easter creativity. The event was chaotic and the goods were presented at random and inconsistent stands.
In the opinion of experts on Emaus, the tradition of artistic craftsmanship is disappearing, commercialisation prevails over cultural functions, and mass-produced items from Asia are replacing what was once the essence of the assortment of the fair.
“We want to stop the advancing commercialisation and eliminate controversial products available at the fair. I believe that it will be possible to gradually restore what has built the fame of Krakow’s Emaus over the centuries, that the historical context and tourist potential of this unique event will help us bring closer and promote Krakow’s rich cultural heritage”, explains Robert Piaskowski, Mayor’s Plenipotentiary for Culture.
Rękawka Fair
Tuesday 2nd April
11.30am- 6pm
Krakus Mound (Kopiec Krakusa)
The Rękawka Fair takes place around Krakus Mound (Kopiec Krakusa) on the first Tuesday after Easter. The festival dates back to the middle ages, around the 8th century. Rękawka is popular with young and old alike, and is one of our favourites. It features, a mock medieval village, together with displays and battle re-enactments.
Full details of the event, including the programme, summary of displays/exhibitors, photos and video from past events etc can be found at:- Rękawaka Festival (centrum kultury Podgórze)
2/04/2024 | PROGRAM
11.30 | Entry of the warriors to the Krakus
12.00 | Rite of lighting a fire on the Krakus Mound
12.30 | Run of fully armed warriors around the
13.00 | Presentation of the arriving teams
13.30 | Reenactment of “Concluding alliances by the Duke of Wiślan”
14.00 | Prophecy of prosperity for the city of Krakow
14.45 | Dueling tournament/performance “Vlasta gathers a team” (simultaneously)
3.00 p.m. | Żmij “Akustyczne” – folk band concert
4.00 p.m. | Great battle of warriors: Vistula people against invaders
4.45 p.m. | Ceremonial burning of the war gate and battle station
5.00 p.m. | Concert of the folk band Daj Ognia
Other attractions:
Slavic settlement (historical camp)
Art, handicraft and traditional food
fair Pre-Christian temple (Gontyna)
Children’s play zone “Czędowe igry” (12.00-17.30)
12.00-13.00 | Workshop on tying a traditional Slavic doll (conducted by: Alicja Karczmarska–Strzebońska)
12.00-17.30 | Games for children in the early medieval style: obstacle course, sack races, tug-of-war, slalom on wooden slices, throwing a purse at a target, fishing, throwing a hoop at stakes, three-person ski races.
12.00-17.30 | Young Viking Zone “Experience an adventure with Vikings”: training of young warriors for safe swords, team battles, trying on warriors’ armor (helmets, shields, swords, chain mail, axes, spears), souvenir photos on the throne of the Viking Jarl, tournament of little warriors.
Information point and sales stand with official gadgets from Klucze.
Stand of the Podgórze District Council XIII.
Stand of the Podgórze.pl Association.
Thematic stand of the Archaeological Museum in Krakow.
– interesting facts related to archaeological research conducted on the Krakus Mound
– activities for children: crosswords, quizzes, educational coloring books, competitions with prizes
– exhibition “The Great Mounds of Krakow”
Attractions prepared by the Krakow Museum – Podgórze Museum
12.00 | Walk “Rękawka or Rękawki?” meeting: at the stand of the Museum of Krakow – Podgórze Museum as part of the Traditional Rkakawka Festival on the Krakus Mound, conducted by: Melania Tutak (Podgórze Museum)
14.00 | Walk “Rękawka or Rękawki?” meeting: at the stand of the Museum of Krakow – Podgórze Museum as part of the Traditional Rkakawka Festival on the Krakus Mound led by: Aneta Biela (Podgórze Museum), walk with a PJM interpreter
Easter Shopping Hours
Most shops will be closed for the Easter break, with the usual exceptions of a few small owner operated shops. Generally the opening hours will be :
Egg Painting
This guide shows options for natural dyes for eggs.
A Scot in Kraków. The founder and editor of Kraków Expats Directory, and our sister sites Kraków TV and Kraków Stories Podcast.
David fell in love with Kraków 25 years ago, making it his home in 2011.
In 2020 he was awarded the title of Kraków’s Ambassador of Multiculturalism, by the President of Kraków, and is also a member of the GlobalScot network, representing Scottish culture and business abroad.
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