Podlachia Events

Podlachia’s calendar is religious and agricultural, and its two great occasions belong to the Orthodox rather than the Catholic year.

The Grabarka pilgrimage — 18 and 19 August

The most important event in Polish Orthodoxy. On the Feast of the Transfiguration, tens of thousands of pilgrims converge on the wooded hill at Grabarka, many walking for days from across eastern Poland. Each carries a wooden cross, which is planted on the slope around the monastery church — a practice going back to a plague in 1710, when villagers who did so were said to have been spared. The hillside now holds many thousands of crosses of every size, from hand-sized to several metres, weathering silver among the trees, and the sight of it is genuinely arresting. An all-night vigil is held, water is drawn from the spring at the foot of the hill, and the liturgy runs through into the morning. Visitors are welcome; it is a religious occasion and not a spectacle.

Orthodox Easter — usually April or May

Following the Julian calendar, generally later than the Western date. Midnight liturgy, processions around the church with candles, the greeting Chrystus zmartwychwstal, and elaborately decorated eggs.

Sabantuy — summer

The Tatar community’s traditional festival, with wrestling, horse events and Tatar food, held at Kruszyniany or Bohoniki.

Hajnowka Orthodox Music Festival — May

An international festival of Orthodox church music held since 1982, drawing choirs from across the Orthodox world to sing in the modernist cathedral at Hajnowka. The acoustic is extraordinary and the repertoire runs from Byzantine chant to contemporary composition; it is one of the more unusual musical events in Poland and almost entirely unknown outside the region.

Birdwatching season

Not a festival, but April and May bring specialist visitors from across Europe to the Biebrza for the great snipe lek and the aquatic warbler.