Download - Changes in Polish traditions
About us We are Maja and Ola. We are 14 years old. We
come from a small Polish town Mielec. We are students of a middle school. We are pleased that we can take part in the Comenius project. We would like to display the presentation entitled „Changes concerning holidays and family celebrations”. We invite you to watch the presentation. We hope you will enjoy it. :)
Christmas
Christmas is one of the most important holidays in
Poland. It is celebrated by almost all the people as
Poland is considered to be a Catholic country.
Christmas has always been a special time for Polish
families. Nevertheless, not all customs have survived
up till now.
Our grandparents used to spend this time in the
circle of relatives- enjoying traditional
meals, singing carols and talking.
With the time being, there have been some changes in the way Christmas is celebrated. Our parents
enjoyed carols, family gatherings, but also
Christmas TV programmes which have
become popular in almost all Polish homes during
Christmas.
There should be twelve traditional meals on the table
in each Polish home on Christmas Eve. One of the most traditional Polish meal are dumplings (pierogi) which are eaten on Christmas Eve. The one who finds a coin hidden in the dumpling is believed to be lucky in the following year.
Decoratng a Christmas tree has been popular for ages, although decorations were
different in the past. Under the Christmas tree
Polish kids put a Christmas shed
Nowadays real Christmas trees are often replaced by artificial ones, also decorations are usually ready made,
although preparing decorations is still a great fun for kids.
One of the most unique traditions is walking through villages in disguise-
there is a devil, an angel and of course a star carrier. They visit homes, sing carols and collect a
symbolic amount of money for their performance. Unfortunately, this
custom is not as popular as it was a few decades ago.
One tradition unique to Poland is the sharing of the „opłatek”- a
thin wafer. In the old days people carried these wafers from house to house wishing neighbours Merry Christmas. Nowadays
opłatek is mostly shared with members of the family.
Contemporary decorations
differ from the ones prepared
by our grandparents. Nowadays not only trees are decorated, but also the whole
houses and streets.
One of the traditions that has survived is preparing one additional set of cutlery and
plates for the unexpected guest on Christmas Eve. Some people keep a
Christmas carp scale in their wallets for the whole year. It is believed to bring
happiness.
Valentine's Day
The Valentine’s day is a comparably new holiday in Poland. Our grandparents did
not know anything about it.
On Saint Valentine’s Day people exchange gifts, red roses, send Valentine cards
andtalk about love
Easter
Easter has always been celebrated really ceremonially. Almost all customs have
survived since the youth of our grandparents.
The most important symbols of Easter are Easter eggs and a lamb.
The day expected with excitement is Easter Monday. On that day people have fun pouring water on each other
(śmigus dyngus). Although this custom is still common, our
grandparents used to celebrate it even more ceremonially. It was an honour for a girl to be
poured with water.
The customs that have survived:
• the blessing of the Easter baskets in churches on Holy Saturday
• exchanging Easter wishes, sending Easter cards
•preparing traditional
meals
Family celebrations
Family celebrations which are considered to be really important are weddings. This event
has always been celebrated very ceremonially.Our
grandparents used to feast even for a few days. The wedding
receptions used to take place in special tents, or
just in front of the house.
Today the guests are invited to the restaurant
to celebrate the wedding.
Our grandparents were driven to the wedding
ceremony in a car decorated with a doll put
on a car bonnet.
The wedding ceremony is accompanied with the orchestra, people dance and feast until the
sunrise.
The climax of each wedding reception is a custom called „oczepiny” at midnight. The bride takes off her veil, the grooms does the same with his tie and they throw them behind. The girls standing in the circle try to catch the veil, the boys’ task is to catch the tie. The lucky couple
that manage to do it is said to change the marital status soon.
The newlyweds are welcome
with coins and rice just after
the church ceremony.
Before entering the restaurant the bride and
groom have to throw glasses behind so that they
break. It is believed to bring happiness.
Throughout the decades also the wedding fashion has been
changing.
Our grandparents ………parents
……and contemporary
couple
It’s our obligation to celebrate and remember about holidays
and family celebrations as they are the most valuable cultural
inheritance for future generations.
Thank you for attention