Wianki – Casting of the Wreaths

Much like in the case of many other traditions, the origin of the casting of the wreaths dates back to pagan times. The Midsummer Night festivity took place on the shortest night of the year, and was connected to the worshipping of fire and water. It was the night of huge bonfires, singing songs, and maidens weaving wreaths to cast them onto the running water later in the night. Observing the wreaths behaviour, they would attempt to foretell their future. The drowning of a wreath could herald the imminent near death of the owner; on the other hand, were it to stop and spin in a particular place, this was believed to be an augury of spinstership.

In Christian times, the worship of water and fire was replaced by ceremonies commemorating St John the Baptist. Even though the church fought all superstition and customs, they were preserved in the merry revelries of the folk, losing the features of a pagan rite. Midsummer Eve fun is being revitalised through the use of new forms of entertainment: concerts, firework displays and sometimes adaptations of old rites. The Midsummer Eve Fair organised during Wianki alludes to tradition. This unique reconstruction lasting several days (23-27 June) will transport us back in time to a small medieval town with its trade, customs, rites, dances and folk games. The fair also offers garland-weaving workshops, encounters with legend for the youngest and a competition for the most beautiful garland (wianek in Polish).

Around the middle of the 19th century, the custom of the casting of the wreaths acquired the developed form of a public spectacle, and so it continues to this day. The shows of the “light and sound” type, and recently concerts performed by the world’s stars of pop music bring crowds upon crowds to the Vistula Embankments. The night ends in a display of fireworks.