Polish village is rich in traditions. Harvest festival is one of the most known. It is a folk feast at the culmination of work on the fields that lasts from spring throughout the entire summer. Harvest festival is now celebrated from mid-August till September, on Saturday or Sunday.
These feasts differ depending on the region but there are two elements that they have in common.
The first one is bread. For this occasion housewives bake a big loaf of bread, traditionally – from new grain, as the reference to the goods of the Earth.
Wreath is the second element that is common for the harvest festival, regardless of the region. Traditionally it should be made from ears of grain and richly decorated. In the past flowers, blueberries, robust apples or rowanberries were used for it. In many regions it was also decorated with gold plated nuts and gingerbread figures. The wreath is often in the form of a huge crown or cap, although sometimes we can see the traditional oval wreaths.
What are the harvest festival customs in Your regions?