At 10am on Thursday 4th December, the 83rd Kraków Nativity Scene contest will take place on Rynek.
Participants gather with their nativity scenes from 10 am, around the Adam Mickiewicz statue on Rynek. (or under the cover of Sukiennice, if the weather isn’t so kind). Then at 12 midday, they parade around Rynek, then present their nativity scenes on the stage.
Our video and interview with Kraków Museum’s director of Intangible Heritage, Dr. Andzrej Szoka, from last year’s 82nd NATIVITY SCENE CONTEST – SZOPKA KRAKOWSKA – will give you an idea of what to expect.
Kraków’s UNESCO-listed, world-famous nativity scene parade and contest dates back to the 19th century.
Kraków Museum’s director of Intangible Heritage, Dr. Andzrej Szoka, explains the tradition. People of all ages from across Poland make elaborate nativity scenes or (Szopki) cribs, which are displayed on the Adam Mickiewicz monument.
At 1200 they are paraded around the Main Square to the stage, then on to Krzysztofory Palace where they are judged. The winning nativity scenes are exhibited at the Krzysztofory museum from 8th December to 1st March 2026.
A selection are displayed across the city in buildings and within glass cases outside. On December 4, 2025, the nativity scene makers brought their works to the Main Market Square and placed them on the steps of the Adam Mickiewicz Monument, where they were displayed from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
After the Krakow bugle call at 12:00 noon, a procession of nativity scenes, led by a folk band from Bronowice, set off around the Market Square and led to the stage where the nativity scenes were presented to the audience.
The artists then took their creations to the Krzysztofory Palace, where they were judged by a jury composed of historians, ethnographers, art historians, architects, and visual artists.
(use the chapter markers to skip through the video)
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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