Kadzidło Sunday

The Only Sunday of This Kind…

This is a proposal not only for the local community. Without doubt, a visit in Kadzidło on the first Sunday of September may be treated as a trip to the very heart of the Kurpie region and the visitors are immediately introduced to the traditional Kurpie hospitality. The “Kadzidło Sunday” is an autumn event which takes place every year and which was started in 1978. The event also forms a part of the Parish and Municipality Harvest Festival, which begins with a holy mass at 9.00 a.m. in the Church of the Holy Spirit in Kadzidło. The festival is attended by inhabitants of villages surrounding Kadzidło and farmers with pleated wreaths, dressed in beautiful Kurpie outfits.

Before the mass, a ceremonious and very colourful procession is formed, led by the Starost and his wife who carry a loaf of bread baked from this year’s crops. The procession is welcomed by the priest celebrating the mass. The holy mass, apart from local residents and guests, is also attended by representatives of municipality authorities. The harvest festival is a very important event for the agricultural community that symbolically crowns year-round work in the fields and provides an opportunity for communal meeting. The growing popularity of the event is testified by increasing number of visitors, both the main participants of the event who carry the harvest wreaths and representatives of the Kadzidło community. The event has a fixed scenario: a ceremonious procession before the mass, blessing of harvest wreaths, special homily and speeches of representatives of authorities.

After the harvest mass, the procession – with beautiful Kurpie girls in traditional outfits, farmers and folk musicians carrying impressive harvest wreaths which are an interesting example of ceremonial accessories – proceeds from the church to the Kurpie Farmstead. Here, the artistic and trade part of the event takes place, along with performances given by ensembles; there is also a village tournament encompassing sports competitions (spectacular tug-of-war), contest of harvest wreaths and regional products, prepared by farmers’ wives’ associations (bread, local butter, cold-cuts, pierogis, rejbak potato pancake, cakes, psiwo kozicowe beer and liqueurs which can be tasted after evaluation by the jury).

During the event, meritorious inhabitants of the commune and organisations receive prizes. The participants of the music part include farmers’ wives’ associations from villages forming a part of the Kadzidło municipality (e.g. Chudek, Czarnia, Golanka, Jazgarka, Dylewo, Klimki, Kadzidło), as well as fire brigades from Kadzidło and the star attraction, the “Kurpianka-Cepelia” folk band. In spite of the fact that the event has a local character, every tourist will find a suitable offer: competitions for children, fairground, stalls where local artists sell their products, trade stands with food and various accessories. The Kadzidło Sunday does not have such mass character as Kurpie Honey Extraction in Wykrot near Myszyniec. Due to this, it will definitely satisfy people who are not so fond of large events and may feel the power of a communal meeting. The Kadzidło Sunday is co-organised by the Centre of Kurpie Culture of Rev. Mieczysław Mieszko in Kadzidło (Centrum Kultury Kurpiowskiej im. Ks. Mieczysława Mieszki).