From Wednesday to Saturday, 15–17 August, we will have fun together in the clay town by the municipal pond (Bankowa Street). The program includes creating “clay” costumes for the parade during art workshops, large-scale painting with clay slip, two days of fire-walking workshops, pottery workshops on traditional wheels, and activities for the youngest children in special pools filled with clay slip.
Every day in the clay town, a hot musical mix of hits prepared by a DJ will play especially for visitors, while a compere will present all the attractions. The workshops in the town and the parade will be an integral part of the 25th Bolesławiec Ceramic Festival—one of the largest events of its kind in Europe. Around 150,000 people visit Bolesławiec during the festival’s five days.
Sensory pools
Experiencing the world through all the senses is one of the most valuable experiences of childhood. Children love touching, looking, feeling, and even tasting the world. That is how they learn about it. One of the best forms of play is getting freely and unrestrainedly dirty—indeed, getting covered in mud.
In the clay town, children will be able to bathe in a pool of clay slip. The slip is completely safe for the skin. If parents also want to splash themselves with clay together with their children, they will be able to do so. Washbasins and changing rooms will be available beside the pools with slides. The messy and happy children can be washed and changed there.
Pottery wheel workshops
Throwing pottery on a wheel is a skill that must be practiced. It is great fun and an extraordinary experience. The pottery wheel was already known in ancient Egypt. Egyptian mythology says that the ancient god Khnum of Upper Egypt, the creator of humanity, shaped humans from clay precisely on a potter’s wheel. These beliefs show how important the pottery wheel was to people and how highly the craft of pottery-making had been respected since antiquity.
Fire-walking workshops: two workshops
For those willing and brave, we have prepared the unique experience of walking barefoot on fire. On Thursday and Friday, 15 and 16 August, it will be possible to walk across the fire. This is an excellent opportunity to confront the elements and, consequently, overcome the fear that limits us, break through barriers imposed by the mind, and realize that we are capable of taking on ever-new challenges. Workshop participants will be able to go beyond the boundaries set by biology, overcome their fear of the elements, and walk barefoot across a fiery carpet made of embers, whose temperature is approximately 600°C. Without pain or any harm to health.
Body painting with Ceramika Artystyczna
Selected male and female models will be painted with motifs that can be seen on Bolesławiec ceramics. Stamps, peacock eyes, wildflowers: all these motifs will be painted on the models’ bodies by artists from Ceramika Artystyczna Spółdzielnia Rękodzieła Artystycznego in Bolesławiec.
Glina Show parade
Glina Show is a treat for people who want to take on the role of clay characters marching proudly in a clay procession. It is for people who are not afraid of getting dirty and, most importantly, have a vivid imagination to create an original costume. For the brave, there will be a contest for the best costume, as well as an opportunity for photographers—a contest for the best photograph. An additional attraction is the final combination of the clay parade with the Holi Festival of Colors!
Program of the “Clay Bridges—Polish-German Meetings Around Clay” project
Thursday, 15 August
- 16:00–20:00: “CLAY” themed workshops: ceramic and sculpture workshops: pottery wheel throwing, activities with clay for the youngest children, creating “clay” costumes—workshops with a stylist
- 20:00–22:00: “FIRE” themed workshops: fire-walking workshops
Friday, 16 August
- 14:00–17:00: “CLAY” themed workshops: ceramic and sculpture workshops: pottery wheel throwing, activities with clay for the youngest children, creating “clay” costumes—workshops with a stylist
- 20:00–22:00: “FIRE” themed workshops: fire-walking workshops
Saturday, 17 August
- 12:00–15:00: “CLAY” themed workshops: ceramic and sculpture workshops: pottery wheel throwing, activities with clay for the youngest children, creating “clay” costumes, preparation for the Glina Show parade, and “COLOR” themed workshops: body painting with Ceramika Artystyczna—demonstration of painting ceramic decorations on male and female models, preparations for the parade
- 15:00: Glina Show—the parade of clay characters begins at Bankowy Square
- 16:00: joint finale of the Glina Show parade and the Festival of Colors on the main stage
The “Clay Bridges—Polish-German Meetings Around Clay” project is co-financed by the European Union under the European Regional Development Fund and by state budget funds through the Nysa Euroregion.
The project partner is Die Katholische Pfarrgemeinde Leutersdorf „Mariä Himmelfahrt” in Leutersdorf.
