Below we present the essential program of the Bolesławiec Ceramic Festival.

For families with children

We recommend the Ceramic Animation Town, which will be built in Piłsudski Square in front of the Forum cinema and will operate from Friday to Sunday.

The town will be fenced and safe. The animators can look after older children. Toilets and a hall will be available at the Forum cinema, where you will be able to wash, change or feed your child. Nursing mothers, whether breastfeeding or bottle-feeding, will have a comfortable, cool place available. A changing table has been promised in the women's restroom.

The animators will show children and teach them how to shape clay on a potter's wheel. They will also show them how to sculpt simple figurines. Children will be able to paint clay plates and cups. On request, faces can be painted with the blue patterns most fashionable during the Ceramic Festival. Stamp-decorated faces are an original and interesting idea. Children should like it.

Opening days and hours (free admission):

  • Friday, August 21. Hours: 17:00-20:00
  • Saturday, August 22. Hours: 10:00-18:00
  • Sunday, August 23. Hours: 12:00-16:00

IstotneInformacje.pl advises: Dress your children in comfortable clothes that are not too new, so they can feel at ease and play without worrying about ruining new and expensive clothing. Remember: toilets are available in the cinema hall; you can wash, change or feed your child there.

On Saturday, enjoy concerts and theatre with the children

Families are also encouraged to attend all performances prepared by children and for children. This year's offering is very attractive. All shows will take place on the Small Stage (in front of the Forum cinema, in Piłsudski Square). Saturday will be the day packed with the most events. On that day, we recommend the following on the Small Stage:

  • 15:00 Performance by the Karambol group from the Youth Cultural Centre in Chojnów. Karambol specializes in dance productions. Their routine imitating dancing in ocean waters is unrivalled
  • 17:00 Children's performance “Space Odyssey 2009” by Teatr Na Walizkach from Wrocław. Teatr Na Walizkach is an original comedy theatre. When founding it, its creators set themselves one goal: to make the audience laugh! More precisely, to let them feel as happy and carefree as a child. The members of Teatr Na Walizkach are professional actors. During the performance, you will see a comic dwarf, a shark attack straight out of the film “Jaws,” a surprising performance by an orchestra led by a mad conductor and... giant soap bubbles!
  • 18:30 Concert by Joszko Brody with the 30-person “Dzieci z Brodą” group. The concert will feature songs from the artist's latest album, “Monsters Come Out of the Den.” Joszko Broda is an artist well known on the music scene. Anna Maria Jopek once sang a song in his honour. Broda plays many instruments – the jaw harp, fujara postna, goat horn, ocarina, leaf, straw and reed

For dad, son and a warrior daughter

On Saturday at 16:45, a grand performance will begin in the Market Square: A historical show from the period of the Thirty Years' War. It will be presented by the Czech group Collegium Armatum. The narrator will tell the story of the longest religious war in Europe, while warriors dressed in period costumes will reenact a battle.

IstotneInformacje.pl advises: A wonderful day that can be spent with your child in an unusual way: having fun and learning together. Explain to your children who an actor is and what a performance is. Tell them the ancient history of our town like a beautiful fairy tale. Sing along with Joszko songs about the most important matters in a young person's life: fairy tales, the rules of making a proper mess, troubles with parents and the world, the story of “unbelievable/not a matching pair of socks,” and about “I can't sleep/mummy has to give me a kiss.”

With dancing, concerts and multiculturalism

Major concerts on the Main Stage in Popiełuszki Square.

  • Friday, August 21 at 21:30 will feature Andrzej Piaseczny “Piasek” with his band
  • Saturday, August 22 at 21:30 the Wilki
    • band will play
  • Sunday, August 23 – concert block on the Main Stage
    • 16:00 Orkiestra Świętego Mikołaja, one of the groups that “invented” folk music in Poland. In its arrangements, the group readily uses rare string instruments such as the dutar and dulcimer. To a large extent, these create the band's distinctive and unique sound, giving it a mystical aura. As one of the first bands, the orchestra introduced music inspired by Slavic folklore into its repertoire, primarily Polish, Lemko and Hutsul.
    • 18:00 Fanfara Kalashnikov, a group from Romania. “Our music is our weapon,” the musicians keep repeating. When Fanfara Kalashnikov play tubas, horns and trumpets at 240 beats per minute, it is not only a celebration of their forefathers' culture, but also liberation from 40 years of state oppression. Who wouldn't dance on the tables then?
    • 20:00 Indios Bravos (in Spanish, this means “brave Indians”). The band plays a mix of rock, blues and reggae

IstotneInformacje.pl advises: There probably has never been such good entertainment in Bolesławiec. It is worth inviting friends, especially on Sunday. We additionally recommend the classical music concert in front of Piwnica Paryska – Saturday, August 22 (at 22:00) amid the beautiful setting of an old tenement house, after sunset, on a summer night.

Exceptionally, unconventionally and totally wild

Saturday is the day of Gliniada. This interactive artistic event will be full of attractions. Two couples will say “I do” dressed in clay and specially designed costumes. The master of ceremonies will be Brian Scott, a well-known journalist and actor who appeared, among other films, in the comedy “Lejdis.”

During Gliniada, the King and Queen of the parade, its youngest and oldest participant, and the most eccentric Clay Person will be selected. The most interesting human-powered vehicle will also be chosen. All winners will receive attractive material prizes.

The Fire Theatre “Chimera” and a Bolesławiec breakdance group will also take part in Gliniada.

Gliniada schedule:

  • 9:00 Grand painting session accompanied by music from The Glinolud Band. Location: District Office
  • 12:00 The parade will set out from Piwnica Paryska and proceed along Komuny Paryskiej Street to the Market Square
  • 13:30 Wedding ceremonies
  • 14:45 The Clay People will join the city parade of the Ceramic Festival
  • 16:00 Award ceremony for contest winners
  • 16:20 The Clay People will wash themselves on Chopina Street

Fire – divine energy, inspiration, passion

For connoisseurs and lovers of unusual things, we recommend keeping watch by the ceramic kilns, which this year will be fired by artists from Friday to Sunday in the square near the Market Square.

For three days, visitors will be able to watch workshop activities – the construction, firing, baking of the works created and extinguishing of unusual kilns.

For ceramic artists, a kiln is a partner, tyrant, destroyer and creator. Fire fascinates not only artists. It is a primal element that has been igniting the human imagination for centuries.

On Friday at 23:00, at the “Aquarium of Fire” kiln in the Market Square, Żywy Teatr from Bielawa will perform “Dance of Fire”.

IstotneInformacje.pl advises: If you want to experience something extraordinary, become an actor or a celebrity photographed by photojournalists, we suggest taking part in the unusual event that is Gliniada. You will experience it nowhere else but in Bolesławiec.

During the city parade of the Ceramic Festival, one more prize will be awarded: for the most interestingly dressed person. The trip to the European Parliament was funded by MEP Lidia Geringer de Oedenberg.

Bolesławiec will also attempt to break a Guinness World Record. A 200-metre-long table will be set up on Asnyka Street. If it is filled with ceramic tableware, we will enter the famous Book of Records.

(information: Grażyna Hanaf)