Potato Festival at the Radom Countryside Museum

The potato is holding strong in Polish cuisine, and potato dishes can be inexpensive, creative and tasty. Out of all food products, Poles eat the most potatoes – on average, 100 kilograms per person every year. This is why its own holiday was inevitable – the Potato Festival is a recurring, unique event in which the potato becomes the main theme.

Thanks to the possibility of harvesting it in large quantities, the potato has saved people from hunger in the years of the greatest crises. Potato dishes appeared in the old recipes used in the kitchens of the royal court, homes of the nobility and those of the peasants as well. In the 1960s and the 1970s, Poland was among the leading producers of potatoes, which is why the image of our country as a potato power has become so prevalent in the minds of the older generations. These days, the younger generation values potatoes mainly as chips and crisps. Still, it is impossible to oust the potato from Polish tradition – because of its availability and relatively low price, but also because of its flavour and – as dieticians emphasise – its nutritional value. Throughout Poland, events where the potato plays a main role are popular, but the Potato Festival at the Radom Countryside Museum is one of the larger events that present the various aspects of the potato.

Over 30 years ago, the time of the potato harvest was a sign of an approaching school break. Today’s farmers have at their disposal mechanised equipment, and the help of children on farms is no longer necessary. The old methods of harvesting potatoes are shown in museum demonstrations – the older generations remember them, for the younger generations, they are a demonstration of heavy labour in the field. Potato harvest accessories are hoes, baskets and bags, there is a horse-drawn cart for transport and a person ready for heavy work. Participants of the demonstrations can taste numerous dishes of traditional cuisine that take part in the “Regional potato dish” competition. As a counterpoint to the farming work demonstrations, there are also dances “on the planks”, as well as performances of singing groups and a market of handicrafts created by artists from the Radom region.

The Potato Festival is a popular event, visited by large numbers of residents of Radom and tourists alike. It is one of many projects which try to involve the visitors into common workshop and exhibition activities and to implement the idea of „live museum”, where in addition to exhibitions of various types of architecture one can also observe livestock – chickens, geese, goats…