Palm & Craft Competition in Lipnica Murowana

Each year some 15,000 people gather in this small village 30km southeast of Kraków to celebrate Palm Sunday. Since 1958 Lipnica Murowana has organised a Palm Festival and contest to determine the most beautiful and tallest palms, which have become symbolic of Easter in Catholic Poland. These elaborately woven traditional decorations are representative of the branches laid on the ground before Jesus during his triumphal entrance into Jerusalem and are hand-made from a variety of dried flowers and plants. Past festival palms have reached recorded heights of up to 37m, 87cm. The palms are blessed in a morning mass service on Lipnica’s market square, while additional events include workshops, folk performances, regional food tastings, exhibitions and folk art fairs. Lipnica Murowana is also home to a UNESCO-listed wooden church, making it doubly worthwhile for tourists. For more about Easter traditions in Poland, read our article: Easter in Kraków.