1. About us
We ar e Maj a and Ola. We ar e 14 year s old. We
come f r om a small Polish t own Mielec. We ar e
st udent s of a middle school. We ar e pleased
t hat we can t ake par t in t he Comenius proj ect .
We would like t o display t he pr esent at ion
ent it led „Changes concerning holidays and f amily
celebr at ions”. We invit e you t o wat ch t he
pr esent at ion. We hope you will enj oy it . :)

2. Christ mas

3. 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.

4. Our grandparent s used t o
spend t his t ime in t he
circle of relat ives-
enj oying t radit ional
meals, singing carols and
t alking.Wit h t he t ime being,
t here have been some
changes in t he way
Christ mas is
celebrat ed. Our
parent s enj oyed
carols, f amily
gat herings, but also
Christ mas TV

5. There should be
t welve t radit ional
meals on t he t able in
each Polish home on
Christ mas Eve.
One of t he most
t radit ional Polish
meal are dumplings
(pierogi) which are
eat en on Christ mas
Eve. The one who
f inds a coin hidden
in t he dumpling is
believed t o be lucky
in t he f ollowing year.

6. Decorat ng a Christ mas t ree
has been popular f or ages,
alt hough decorat ions were
dif f erent in t he past . Under
t he Christ mas t ree Polish
kids put a Christ mas shed

7. Nowadays real Christ mas t rees are
of t en replaced by art if icial ones, also
decorat ions are usually ready made,
alt hough preparing decorat ions is st ill
a great f un f or kids.

8. One of t he most unique t radit ions is
walking t hrough villages in disguise-
t here is a devil, an angel and of course
a st ar carrier. They visit homes, sing
carols and collect a symbolic amount of
money f or t heir perf ormance.
Unf ort unat ely, t his cust om is not as
popular as it was a f ew decades ago.

9. One t radit ion unique t o Poland is t he
sharing of t he „opłat ek”- a t hin
waf er. I n t he old days people
carried t hese waf ers f rom house t o
house wishing neighbours Merry
Christ mas. Nowadays opłat ek is
most ly shared wit h members of t he
f amily.

10. Cont emporary
decorat ions
dif f er f rom t he
ones prepared
by our
grandparent s.
Nowadays not
only t rees are
decorat ed, but
also t he whole

11. One of t he t radit ions t hat has survived is
preparing one addit ional set of cut lery
and plat es f or t he unexpect ed guest on
Christ mas Eve. Some people keep a
Christ mas carp scale in t heir wallet s f or
t he whole year. I t is believed t o bring
happiness.

12. Valent ine' s Day

13. The Valent ine’s day is a comparably new
holiday in Poland. Our grandparent s did not
know anyt hing about it .

14. On Saint Valent ine’s Day
people exchange gif t s, red
roses, send Valent ine cards
and
t alk about love

15. East er

16. East er has always been celebrat ed really
ceremonially. Almost all cust oms have
survived since t he yout h of our
grandparent s.
The most import ant symbols of East er are
East er eggs and a lamb.

17. The day expect ed wit h
excit ement is East er Monday.
On t hat day people have f un
pouring wat er on each ot her
(śmigus dyngus). Alt hough t his
cust om is st ill common, our
grandparent s used t o celebrat e
it even more ceremonially. I t
was an honour f or a girl t o be
poured wit h wat er.

18. The cust oms t hat have
survived:
• t he blessing of
t he East er
basket s in
churches on
Holy Sat ur day
• exchanging
East er
wishes,
sending
East er
cards
•pr epar ing
t radit ional
meals

19. Family
celebrat ions

20. Family celebrat ions which are
considered t o be really
import ant are weddings.
This event has always been
celebrat ed very
ceremonially.Our
grandparent s used t o f east
even f or a f ew days. The
wedding recept ions used t o
t ake place in special t ent s,
or j ust in f ront of t he
house.
Today t he guest s are invit ed
t o t he rest aurant t o
celebrat e t he wedding.

21. Our
grandparent s
were driven t o
t he wedding
ceremony in a
car decorat ed
wit h a doll put
on a car bonnet .

22. The wedding ceremony is accompanied
wit h t he orchest ra, people dance and
f east unt il t he sunrise.

23. The climax of each wedding recept ion is a cust om called
„oczepiny” at midnight . The bride t akes of f her veil,
t he grooms does t he same wit h his t ie and t hey t hrow
t hem behind. The girls st anding in t he circle t ry t o
cat ch t he veil, t he boys’ t ask is t o cat ch t he t ie. The
lucky couple t hat manage t o do it is said t o change
t he marit al st at us soon.

24. The newlyweds
are welcome wit h
coins and rice j ust
af t er t he church
ceremony.
Bef ore ent ering t he
rest aurant t he bride
and groom have t o
t hrow glasses behind
so t hat t hey break.
I t is believed t o
bring happiness.

25. Throughout t he decades also t he
wedding f ashion has been
changing.
Our
grandparent s
………
parent s
……and
cont emporary
couple

26. I t ’s our obligat ion t o celebrat e
and remember about holidays and
f amily celebrat ions as t hey are
t he most valuable cult ural
inherit ance f or f ut ure
generat ions.

27. Thank you f or
at t ent ion