KUJAWY
On the last day of the carnival season, just before Ash Wednesday begins the season of Lent, merry groups of men dressed in strange attire can be seen walking the streets of towns and villages in the Kujawy region. This is how the time of merriment draws to a close in that part of Poland. For the past few years, on the last carnival Sunday, these groups have assembled in Włocławek to entertain the town's inhabitants.
In several Polish regions, carnival traditions are still very much alive, especially in the final week. One of those regions is Kujawy, a picturesque plateau stretching along the south bank of the Vistula from Włocławek to Bydgoszcz. You can experience carnival madness Polish-style in many places here. The best time to pay a visit is usually on the day before Ash Wednesday, Feb. 24 this year. But beware!-not only local residents are accosted.
Men disguised mainly as animals (they played a prominent part in the old Slavic world of pagan beliefs and magic) run and frolic in the streets to the cheerful accompaniment of accordion music. You will probably see a horse, stork (symbolizing the approaching spring), goat (fertility symbol) and perhaps an enormous bear (vital energy).
In the past, these animals were used in casting spells to ensure an abundant harvest, but today they are only for fun. Pedestrians might also be swept away for a dance with a beggar or old man, who have for centuries symbolized contacts with the outside world, or "death," linking people to the afterlife.
Processions of men in costume wander the streets, though sometimes they also go to people's homes, amusing the residents and scaring the children. The madness usually ends with a drink at the local pub. For hundreds of years, these customs have formed an inseparable part of Polish folk culture.
Those lacking the courage to follow the trail of the carnival tradition around the Kujawy villages and smaller towns can find it on the last Sunday of the carnival season in Włocławek. On that day, all groups of revelers in disguise descend upon the town from the surrounding countryside and march through it, making a great deal of noise and commotion in the process. The organizer of the annual parade is the Museum of the Kujawy and Dobrzyń Regions. Each year, new kinds of costumes appear, and there is always some new figure, not entirely in keeping with the tradition. We must, however, remember that preserving a tradition involves maintaining continuity, rather than faithful imitation.
Wearing inventive and shocking outfits is an old custom known not only in Poland. In the carnival season, what counts is the unusual and ridiculous. Tradition allows social norms and habits to be forgotten during this short time, and life to be turned upside-down.
Kinga Nemere-Czachowska
The above appeared in the February 22, 1998 issue of the Warsaw Voice