Twenty-three wreath-making groups, including those from Prusice, Dzierżoniów, Oława, Kamienna Góra, Bolesławiec, Chojnów and Złotoryja, visited Strzegom on September 14 to take part in this year’s harvest festival. During the event, the competition for the most beautiful wreath was decided. The one created in Ocice proved to be unbeatable.
The Provincial Harvest Festival began with Holy Mass at the local Minor Basilica. The wreaths brought to Strzegom by representatives of the individual counties decorated the center of the church. Everyone then went to the Market Square, where the official part of the festival began. Representatives of the Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Poland, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the clergy and, of course, the local government of Lower Silesia, which organized the Provincial Harvest Festival, took part in the opening ceremony. Meanwhile, a four-person committee began evaluating the individual wreaths.
“We prepared not only a wreath, but an entire harvest festival procession,” recalls Bożena Długosz, the village head of Ocice. “We decided to show, through the costumes, a historical cross-section of the residents of our county. There were traditional costumes from Rzeszów, Kraków, Lower Silesia and the Balkans.
The costumes alone distinguished the representatives of our municipality. In addition, after exploring the subject of harvest festival traditions, the group learned that in the past women carried the wreath, and when it was too heavy, the task fell to men, although they were accompanied by admiring women.
“Our procession consisted of young people because we pass our traditions on to them,” emphasizes Bożena Długosz. “We were accompanied by the Bolesławiec Land Song and Dance Ensemble, led by Elżbieta Tor.
