The 12th edition of the Ceramic Festival is ahead of us. Over the years, what began as a small local venture held in the city’s Market Square, consisting of a ceramics fair featuring several manufacturers from Bolesławiec and performances by local groups, has grown into the most important event of the year, promoting the city of Bolesławiec. Today, the Festival encompasses the entire city centre.
On Friday, 18 August, the leading pop-rock group Łzy will perform, while on Saturday Beata Kozidrak, one of Poland’s best-known female vocalists with an extraordinary voice, will appear with the band Bajm. More than forty ceramics exhibitors from across the country and abroad will present and sell their products at promotional prices in the Market Square. The ceramics will be displayed in uniform wooden pavilions, giving the city’s Market Square a unique atmosphere. Bolesławiec Ceramics will be presented on a shared table promoting the “BOLESŁAWIEC THE BEST!” brand. Large-scale ceramics workshops for children and adults, professional demonstrations of how the products are made, and interactive activities will also be held—everyone willing to take part will be able to shape clay, paint bisque-fired pieces and create their own works. The workshops will be led by ceramic artists affiliated with the Association of Polish Ceramists.
This year, two ceramic kilns will be built: Roman and Raku. Visitors will be able to watch the firing of the works created there. The organisers have also planned several happenings featuring Artists of the International Ceramic and Sculpture Symposium “Art Beyond Borders”, participants in the Polish-Czech Youth Symposium, unaffiliated students of the Academy of Fine Arts and the “Golden Girls”, a symbol of Kraków’s Market Square.
As last year, the event will begin with the Great Ceramic Parade, attended by invited guests, organisers of other outdoor events, city authorities, residents, as well as Geishas, a Samurai on stilts and actors from YOMA Theatre who breathe and swallow fire.
Two stages will be set up for the Festival: one in Piłsudski Square, featuring reggae and blues music, and the main stage in Popiełuszko Square. Bolesławiec artists will also perform, including Bogusław Nowak, Bartek Miarka, the Flamenco and CANON modern dance groups, and the MODUS dance group from MDK. The stars of the Polish music scene mentioned above will perform on the main stage every day late in the evening.
Artistic and ceramic events, happenings, artistic activities and ceramic exhibitions by renowned artists will accompany the event in various locations. These will include the YOMA Fire Dancers Theatre, with a show that will take us into the extraordinary world of fire. We will also see an unusual theatrical performance based on the famous story of Don Juan, the fascinating, unfaithful lover whose amorous conquests amazed, shocked and aroused jealousy. The event on the main stage will conclude with Dancing Fountains, an outdoor spectacle combining water, light and music in a synchronised performance, with the participation of a 40-member Eunesses Musicales orchestra. It will showcase not only the beauty of the dancing fountains, but also a remarkable combination of light choreography and pyrotechnic effects set to film, popular and classical music.
Sport will also feature at the event. The Municipal Sports and Recreation Centre invites everyone to the Euroregion Championships in Bench Press and the Strongmen Competition for the ERN Cup. After admiring the beautiful women taking part in the Aerobics Marathon, everyone interested is invited to participate in the 2nd Run for the Ceramic Cup up the stairs of the City Hall!
The organisers intend to transform the city into an artistic land during the penultimate weekend of August. Last year, residents and tourists from the cross-border belt of the Nysa Euroregion, Lower Silesia and Poland’s major cities who actively participated in the Festival gave this format of the event a positive assessment. As a result, the event was recognised and nominated for the Lower Silesian Key to Success for 2005 in the category of most interesting cultural event or initiative. This year’s event received funding from the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund under the INTERREG III A Czech Republic–Poland Community Initiative Programme in the Nysa Euroregion, as well as from the state budget.
(information from BOK Bolesławiec)