This is the English version of an article first published in Polish: read the Polish original. It refers to source material: Warsaw Now. The text is our own commentary, not a translation or copy of that source.
On Sunday, August 23, Powsin celebrates its biggest annual festival. The 21st Powsińskie Dożynki, an ethnographic festival organized by the Wilanów district, the parish of St. Elizabeth in Warsaw Powsin and Centrum Kultury Wilanów, is one of the few chances to see this part of the district in its agricultural roots, even as new housing estates keep rising around it. Admission to every part of the program is free.
What is on the program
The day traditionally opens with a harvest procession led by the starostowie, the ceremonial harvest hosts, with a presentation of harvest wreaths and folk costumes, while St. Elizabeth's church holds a thanksgiving mass for this year's crops. The rest of the program includes performances by folk groups, activities for children, a regional market with handicrafts and local produce, and a fashion show drawing on Mazovian folklore, including Wilanów embroidery and Kurpie traditions.
Around 3 pm the Silesia Song and Dance Ensemble, named after Stanisław Hadyna, takes the stage. It is one of Poland's most recognizable folk ensembles. That is a change from last year's twentieth edition of the festival, when the headliner was Mazowsze, returning to Powsin after twenty years away with its full choir and ballet. This year Śląsk takes over, which for Wilanów residents means another chance to catch a group whose tickets for regular concerts can be hard to get.
The evening closes with a dance party led by the band Anaband, scheduled for 7 pm. The organizers make no secret that the festival is meant for the whole family, from the youngest to the oldest residents of Powsin and the surrounding neighbourhoods.
Powsińskie Dożynki already has a twenty year history and draws more visitors each year from beyond Powsin itself, including residents of Miasteczko Wilanów, for whom it is a chance to see a different, more rural side of their own district. In previous editions most of the program outside the church mass took place on the grounds of Dom Pracy Twórczej w Powsinie on ul. Ptysiowa, so that is a good place to head first.
