On 30 March 2018, Bolesławiec County Head Karol Stasik and Deputy County Head Tomasz Gabrysiak signed an agreement under which Bolesławiec County received a grant of PLN 200,000 and the honorary title of “Lower Silesia Cultural Capital 2018” (DSK 2018), continuing the contribution of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship to European culture, initiated by the “Wrocław European Capital of Culture” event in 2016 (Resolution No. XLIV/1477/18 of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship Assembly dated 22 February 2018). The winners of previous editions of the competition were Wałbrzych County (Lower Silesia Cultural Capital 2016) and Złotoryja County (Lower Silesia Cultural Capital 2017).
Deputy County Head of Złotoryja County, Ms Wanda Grabos, will hand the host of the conference—the Bolesławiec County Head—the “key to the Lower Silesia Cultural Capital” at the conference inaugurating the project.
The conference, which begins on 5 April this year at 10:00 a.m. at the Old Theatre in Bolesławiec, launches a series of cultural events in Bolesławiec County, to which we cordially invite you.
The event programme is provided below:
- 10:00 – official opening
- 10:30 – handover of the key to the Lower Silesia Cultural Capital
- 10:45 – presentation of the series of events in Bolesławiec County as Lower Silesia Cultural Capital
- 10:50 – performance by the “Mały Bolesławiec” Song and Dance Ensemble
- 11:20 – lecture by humanities PhD Grzegorz Ćwiertniewicz on the culture of Lower Silesia
- 11:50 – coffee break
- 12:30 – theatrical performance by Aneta Ćwieluch’s Teatr z Jednej Gliny, “Śpik”
- 13:20 – performance by the “Harmonia” Community Choir from Nowogrodziec
- 14:00 – end of the conference.
As part of the “Lower Silesia Cultural Capital 2018” project, Bolesławiec County and six municipalities in the county have planned a range of attractions for residents and tourists visiting us.
On 19 May 2018, the Village Cultural Centre in Tomaszów Bolesławiecki, in Warta Bolesławiecka Municipality, is organising “Majowy Ludowy Zawrót Głowy”—an integration and cultural gathering connected with the arrival in Lower Silesia of people from the Eastern Borderlands, Bukovina and the Southern Balkans. A concert and the release of an album documenting the 20th anniversary of the “Niespodzianka” ensemble from Tomaszów Bolesławiecki are planned. Alongside nourishment for the spirit, there will be nourishment for the body: a tasting of dishes from eastern and southern cuisines.
Bolesławiec County Week is an annual county celebration co-organised with county institutions, associations and partner institutions. Throughout the week, from 3 to 10 June, sporting and cultural events will take place, bringing together residents of all the county’s municipalities as they build a shared identity.
On 10 June 2018, two events will take place: an exceptional anniversary—the 60th anniversary of the Cultural Institution in Gromadka (the Municipal Cultural Centre and Library in Gromadka, Gromadka Municipality)—and the already-established Balkan Festa in Bolesławice, organised by Bolesławiec Municipality.
On 23 June 2018, the Bolesławiec Cultural Centre – International Ceramics Centre is organising the traditional South Slavic Culture Festival, referring to the Balkan roots of the large groups of people who settled in Bolesławiec and the surrounding area after the Second World War.
Immediately afterwards, on 24–25 June, we will move to Osiecznica Municipality, where Municipality Days will be organised, including the already widely known Skate-Marathon of the Lower Silesian Forests. The Osiecznica Municipality Days celebrations launch summer with sports and culture. On 1 July, in turn, we will have the opportunity to immerse ourselves in the folk culture of the Borderlands during the Borderlands-Cabbage Festival in Żeliszów, organised in Bolesławiec Municipality by the Żeliszów Village Council and the Żeliszów Rural Housewives’ Circle.
The City of Bolesławiec, organiser of the 54th International Ceramics and Sculpture Open-Air Workshop, will return to high culture from 4 to 26 August. On 12 August, Gromadka Municipality will invite guests together with the “Wrzosowa Kraina” Local Action Group Association from Borówki, after which we will return to Bolesławiec for the Bolesławiec Ceramics Festival, famous in Europe and around the world, which will take place this year from 15 to 19 August.
September will welcome us to Osiecznica Municipality, where on 1 September the Parowa Village Council will organise the Municipality Harvest Festival this year. Then, on 8–9 September, the 6th Pottery Fair “Wielki Garniec z Nowogrodźca nad Kwisą” will take place in Nowogrodziec, organised by Nowogrodziec Municipality. On 6 October, the Municipal Sports and Recreation Centre in Osiecznica and the Osiecznica Village Council will organise Senior Citizens’ Day, bringing to an end the series of events organised by the municipalities in Bolesławiec County.
The “Lower Silesia Cultural Capital” project will conclude on 10 November 2018 with a conference summarising the year-long series of events. Like the opening conference, the closing conference will be held at the county’s Old Theatre in Bolesławiec.