This is the English version of an article first published in Polish: read the Polish original. It refers to source material: wilanow-palac.pl. The text is our own commentary, not a translation or copy of that source.
The courtyard of Wilanów Palace turns into a village from centuries past in mid September. On September 12 and 13, Saturday and Sunday, from 10am to 6pm, the sixth edition of the Royal Crafts Festival takes place, organised by the Museum of King John III's Palace at Wilanów together with the Wilanów District Office. Admission is free.
The festival's biggest draw is a recreated settlement where visitors meet fully costumed reenactors from chosen historical periods: Stone Age people, Roman legionaries, Byzantine merchants, traders from the Silk Road, and Baroque era nobility. Alongside them work craftspeople demonstrating trades that have nearly vanished today: blacksmiths, potters, weavers, lace makers, bookbinders, glassmakers, basket weavers, leather workers, armourers, beekeepers and confectioners making sweets from old recipes. Each of them shows their craft live and explains what a craftsman's work looked like several hundred years ago.
Workshops for kids and shopping on site
For families with children, hands on craft workshops let the youngest visitors try their own hand under a master's guidance, for example with felting, basket weaving or clay modelling. There is also a market on site where visitors can buy finished handmade goods or commission a custom piece, from jewellery to wooden and leather items. It is a chance to talk with makers who usually work outside Warsaw and to see up close techniques that no description online can quite capture.
The festival is part of Wilanów Days and the nationwide European Heritage Days, a series of events promoting local monuments and craft traditions across Poland. The museum also invites makers interested in running their own stall: applications go to festiwalrzemiosl@muzeum-wilanow.pl, and the exhibitor fee is 50 PLN. The event takes place on the palace courtyard at ul. Stanisława Kostki Potockiego 10/16, through the same entrance used for regular museum visits.
