Bolesławiec Market Square, a December afternoon. The middle of the day, and yet you can hardly find a living soul here. A several-metre-tall Christmas tree—nothing special, really—stands in almost every Polish town centre. A few neon lights and Christmas decorations—if not for these few attributes, no one would probably notice that it is the holiday season. Stand up and shout at the top of your lungs: “People! This city is dying!!”—I wonder whether anyone would even “hear” it. Colloquially speaking, Bolesławiec is on its last legs, quietly crawling along and begging for help, for a fresh breath of life. Dear residents, city officials, salespeople, enthusiasts and lovers of Bolesławiec, regardless of age, sex, social status or even address in the urban or rural municipality or the county! Anyone who feels any kind of connection to the name Bolesławiec, let them wake up from their torpor and start acting! Quite simply, nothing is happening here, and when something does happen, it is far from ideal.
Time for some examples. Pre-Christmas and New Year’s Eve markets in Western Europe are a fantastic tradition, cultivated and developed over the years. Markets filled with Christmas trees, live nativity scenes, carousels, stalls with Christmas decorations, delicacies and mulled wine are also becoming increasingly popular in Poland (examples include Wrocław, Opole, Gniezno, Warsaw and Gdańsk), but unfortunately this cannot be seen in Bolesławiec. Let us make use of our strengths: Bolesławiec Ceramics, a phenomenon both cultural and commercial on a European scale (let us not be afraid to admit it), our location near the border and our very advantageous position on the map of Europe, excellent architectural conditions and, above all, enormous potential in the form of a strong group of local entrepreneurs (not only from Bolesławiec, but also from the surrounding area), ready to support such initiatives. At present, the Festival of Ceramics draws crowds, but what about the rest of the year? Where are the events and tourists who, by visiting Bolesławiec during the holidays or New Year’s Eve, could get to know it from a slightly different side?
This year, the Christmas Ceramic Market was organised for the first time, and it proved to be a complete failure. An event of this kind is planned at least several months in advance. Unfortunately, the organisers of the Bolesławiec market did not take this into account. The idea began to be implemented chaotically in mid-November. No statistics are available on the number of people who visited the market, but the fact that more than half of all exhibitors withdrew on the final day speaks for itself. The event had rather poor presentation: apart from stalls for exhibitors and a small, not particularly inviting food stand, there was practically nothing else to see. All this could have been changed by taking several sensible steps right at the beginning.
Who has the closest contact with potential tourists visiting Bolesławiec? The owners of accommodation facilities, of course! They are the most important link in direct contact with tourists. They are capable of promoting such events most effectively, with such efficiency that demand could significantly exceed the capacity of all hotels in Bolesławiec and the surrounding area. The problem therefore lies in the agreement—or rather, the lack of agreement—between the organisers and the entrepreneurs who form the most important link in serving tourist traffic. “Come to Bolesławiec for this year’s Christmas holidays and stay for New Year’s Eve too—it is truly worth it!” Unfortunately, it is not worth it now, so there is nothing to promote, even with the best contacts. Through cooperation, the event would gain visitors and the desired publicity. And that is precisely the general purpose of a Christmas market, a New Year’s Eve event, the Festival of Ceramics or any other event. The key to such success lies in three basic, banal but extremely important matters: joint planning, joint promotion and joint implementation.
As for implementation, the entire rather meagre presentation of the unsuccessful Christmas market would gladly have been improved by a group of local initiative creators in the form of local entrepreneurs—if only they had known about the organisation of the event. During the last two editions of the Festival of Ceramics and the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity, they showed that they are capable of a great deal.
At present, the root of the problem seems to be that the city does not see the development of the tourism industry as a priority. As a result, all activities are uncoordinated, preparations are undertaken too late and without any consultation between the organisers and those who could make such events truly exceptional. And such a Christmas market would become one of many events that, known across Poland—indeed, internationally—would make Bolesławiec famous: the “famous” town of stoneware.
(information from Jarosław Fink)