During the three-day festival, residents had plenty of opportunities to spend their free time. Events took place simultaneously at several locations. Bands performed at Piłsudski Square, ceramics stalls were set up in the Market Square, while mini-concerts and fashion shows were held in the square at Sierpnia ’80 Street.
The Bolesławiec Ceramic Festival began on Friday afternoon. The national anthem was played and a ceramic kiln was fired up. This time, the honor went to Hana Modra, the mayor of Česká Lípa, who was visiting Bolesławiec. Representatives of partner cities, together with the mayor of Bolesławiec, cut a symbolic ribbon placed across a table covered with ceramics. Bolesławiec-based factories displayed their vessels there.
Official delegations from partner cities—Česká Lípa, Hobro, Pirna and Siegburg—came to our city for the festival. Representatives of neighboring towns also took part in the procession that marched from the Market Square to Piłsudski Square.
On Friday, Zakopower and Paweł Kukiz with the band Piersi performed for the audience gathered at Piłsudski Square.
On Saturday, the largest pot of onion soup was cooked in the Market Square. The cooking was accompanied by Lower Silesian onion-cutting competitions and lumberjack demonstrations. A medieval culture show, organized by the “Bobrzanie” Warriors’ Band, took place in the museum park. In the evening, the organizers invited Bolesławiec residents to performances by Dreamland and Pudelsi, followed by a dance party organized by Muzyczne Radio.
On Sunday, a reenactment of the siege and destruction of the manor of Czarny Krzysztof and the capture of the knight-bandit took place on the embankment in the Market Square. An exhibition entitled “The Figure of Czarny Krzysztof in the Light of Archaeological and Historical Research” opened in the museum rooms. Numerous ceramic-themed theatrical performances prepared by young artists were staged in the city streets. That day’s stage featured Arka Noego and Jan Pietrzak’s cabaret “Pod Egidą.”
For three days, the Bolesławiec Ceramic Festival was accompanied by an antiques market where visitors could find unique clay and ceramic products. Fashion shows also featured outfits designed by Bolesławiec designer Ludmiła Samoszyńska and sewn from fabrics decorated with stamps characteristic of Bolesławiec ceramics.
Organizer’s comment
Ewa Zbroja, director of the Bolesławiec Cultural Center: I am pleased that so many residents took part in the Ceramic Festival, that all the planned activities were successful and that the weather cooperated. The new artistic formats introduced to the program by BOK, MDK, MOSiR and the Museum of Ceramics were well received, and that is what matters most.