City Days 2016 – see what’s happening!

As part of this year’s edition, a wealth of attractions awaits us. We begin on Thursday, June 16, with events at BOK-MCC. On Saturday, June 18, we invite you to the Market Square for the 16th Balkan Culture Festival, featuring, among others, BALKAN FOLK ACOUSTIC and guests from Croatia, the group STILL BAND. Sunday promises concerts, with performances by OBSTAWA PREZYDENTA, as well as disco polo stars IVAN KOMARENKO and BOYS.

• On Thursday, June 16, the “Orzeł” Cultural Integration Center of BOK-MCC will host a meeting with Tomasz Jacek Lis, a doctoral student in history at Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń. The meeting is organized by the Association of Re-emigrants from Bosnia, Their Descendants and Friends as part of the project “Saving from Oblivion – 70 Years Since the Return of Poles from Bosnia.” This continues a project launched last year as a series of open meetings whose aim is to pass our history on to younger generations in an engaging way. The meetings are held with the support of the Bolesławiec Cultural Center – International Ceramics Center.

• In the afternoon, we invite you to the opening of the exhibition “5xP” featuring ceramics, painting, glass and artistic textiles created by the BOK-MCC art studios. The event will take place at the “W sam raz” gallery. The exhibition will present works by the ceramic and sculpture studios led by Edyta Orlińska and Mateusz Grobelny, Magdalena Konieczna’s glass and stained-glass studio, Teresa Bancewicz’s artistic textile studio, and Stanisława Wojdy–Pytlińska’s “Akademia sztuki” art studio.

• On Friday, June 17, at 11:00 a.m., all residents are invited to a cultural animation held as part of the “Reading the City of Bolesławiec” project of the European Capital of Culture Wrocław 2016. In the Market Square, on the green area, the results of work by students from Bolesławiec’s I General Secondary School and Primary School No. 4, as well as students of the University of the Third Age in Bolesławiec, will be presented. We encourage everyone to join the search for the identity of Lower Silesia and learn about what has already been discovered.

• Also on Friday, before noon, the Forum hall at BOK-MCC will host the Jubilee Gala of the Bolesławiec Amazons’ Club, accompanied by a photography exhibition and the launch of the publication “We Know How to Make Use of Dreams – 20 Years of the Bolesławiec Amazons’ Club.”

• In the evening, the BOK-MCC lobby will host “Women with Passion,” an exhibition of paintings and drawings by the group attending painting workshops at the University of the Third Age in Bolesławiec. The exhibition presents the group’s work from the past 2015/2016 academic year. In addition to study subjects—figures, still lifes and landscapes—the exhibition will feature thematic assignments demonstrating the artists’ imagination and allowing them individual artistic expression.

• The following day, Saturday, June 18, will see the 16th edition of the Balkan Culture Festival. A re-emigrant settlement will be created in Bolesławiec’s Market Square and populated by rural women’s associations and other organizations. The settlement is organized by the Association of Re-emigrants from Bosnia, Their Descendants and Friends. The project is co-financed by the funds of the Marshal’s Office of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. Residents and visitors will have the opportunity to sample Balkan specialties: traditional pita with toppings, both spicy and savory, goulash soup and pepper soup. Once again, there will be culinary competitions for “good pita” and “Balkan cauldron.”

• The Association of Re-emigrants from Bosnia, Their Descendants and Friends will present an exhibition of memorabilia. The European Commission will also have a stand. In the afternoon, a colorful procession of folk groups will take place, followed by the festival’s official opening by the Mayor of Bolesławiec. During the opening, we will dance Kolo together—a traditional folk dance popular in the Balkans. On stage, local folk groups and invited guests will present the folklore of the South Slavic countries through dance, music and singing.

The colorful international ensemble BALKAN FOLK ACOUSTIC, founded by a Bulgarian accordion virtuoso, will perform Balkan folk and dance music based on traditional folk songs and distinctive rhythms.

The festival will conclude with a concert by STILL BAND from Croatia. The group has extensive experience and a very broad repertoire, including the music of the 1980s, for which it is best known. It is one of the most popular club bands in Osijek.

The final day of celebrations will begin in the early morning with the Antiques Fair organized by the Bolesławiec Collectors’ Society. From 10:00 a.m., associations and non-governmental organizations affiliated with the Bolesławiec Senior Council will promote themselves at stands in wooden booths. These include the Polish Allotment Garden Association, the Day Care Center, the Association of People with Disabilities, the University of the Third Age in Bolesławiec, and the Association of Re-emigrants from Bosnia, Their Descendants and Friends.

From noon, the “Four Paws—Everything for the Dog” campaign will take place, combined with a competition for Bolesławiec’s most likeable four-legged friend. Dog owners are invited with their pets to the green area in the Market Square, where they can receive free advice on dogs’ health, nutrition, grooming and training. Advice will be provided by veterinary, dog-grooming and nutrition specialists, including a dog-clipping demonstration; visitors will also be able to consult a canine behaviorist.
Entries for the competition for the most likeable dog will be accepted at the organizational office on the green area between 12:00 and 2:00 p.m. During the competition, each owner and pet will appear before the audience and have a chance to show off the dog’s skills. The audience will judge the presentations by voting for their chosen dogs. Winners will be selected in two categories: puppies up to one year old and adult dogs. They will receive prizes donated by Husse, a Swedish dog and cat food producer.

The stage program will begin with the official opening of Senior Citizens’ Day. It will be preceded by a colorful procession in the style of the 1930s, which will travel through the city streets from Asnyka–Orka Street to the Market Square. We encourage all seniors to take part in the procession in 1930s clothing. Afterwards, Bolesławiec seniors and amateur artistic groups that regularly dance and sing at BOK-MCC will present an artistic program on stage.

During Sunday evening concerts, as many as three musical stars of the event will appear on stage.
The Bolesławiec band OBSTAWA PREZYDENTA, celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. The group’s music stems from the blues tradition and is an original blend of styles including rock and roll, funk, blues and soul.

IVAN KOMARENKO, known for the hits “Jej czarne oczy” and “Czarna dziewczyna”—the song that represented Poland at the 50th Eurovision Song Contest in 2005.

Dni Bolesławca 2016 will conclude with a performance by BOYS, a group that has existed since 1991. Its signature hits include “Szalona,” “Chłop z Mazur” and “Kochana uwierz mi.” Led by Marcin Miller, BOYS spent years searching for its own musical ideology and unobtrusively became an icon of music, firmly entering the pantheon of stars of the Polish entertainment scene. It seems that their recipe for professional success is the motto Miller repeats regularly: “we play for people aged 5 to 105.”

In addition, during the three days of City Days, Zakłady Ceramiczne BOLESŁAWIEC” Sp. z o.o. invite visitors to a ceramics fair at the site on Kościuszki Street 11. The fair will be open on Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and on Saturday and Sunday from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

A two-day conference, “The People of Bolesławiec—They Did Not Come from Nowhere. On the Settlement Landscape of Lower Silesia,” will also take place. On Friday, June 17, from 12:30 to 6:45 p.m. at the “Orzeł” Cultural Integration Center, 17 Chopina Street, and on Saturday, June 18, from 9:00 a.m. to 2:15 p.m. at the Bolesławiec Branch of the State Archives in Wrocław, 6B Bankowa Street.

The organizers of Dni Bolesławca 2016 are the Municipality of Bolesławiec and the Bolesławiec Cultural Center – International Ceramics Center. Co-organizers: the Regional Representation of the European Commission in Wrocław, the Association of Re-emigrants from Bosnia, Their Descendants and Friends, the Bolesławiec Senior Council, the Bolesławiec Collectors’ Society, the Museum of Ceramics in Bolesławiec, the Bolesławiec Amazons’ Club, the University of the Third Age in Bolesławiec, and Husse Bolesławiec. Honorary patrons: the Embassy of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Embassy of the Republic of Serbia. Cooperation: European Capital of Culture Wrocław 2016, the Association for Critical Education, the Historical Atlas Workshop of the Historical Institute of the University of Wrocław, the Memory and Future Center in Wrocław, and the Bolesławiec Branch of the State Archives in Wrocław. Media patrons: TVP Wrocław, Muzyczne Radio, Gazeta Wyborcza and Wyborcza.pl, as well as Telewizja Lokalna AZART-SAT Bolesławiec. Partner: Zakłady Ceramiczne “BOLESŁAWIEC” Sp. z o.o.; sponsor: EKONAFT - Bolesławiec, Spółka z o.o.