Christmas Eve in Poland is marked by an important family dinner that traditionally includes 12 meat-free dishes. Families share opłatek wafers and leave hay under the tablecloth to commemorate Jesus' birth. After midnight mass, some families enjoy a second dinner with meat. On Christmas Day and its eve, people attend church, exchange gifts, sing carols and feast with family and friends, often including meat-based dishes like hunter's stew. Nativity scenes in churches are also an important Christmas tradition in Poland.

1. CHRISTMASCHRISTMAS
TRADITION AND CUSTOMSTRADITION AND CUSTOMS
Przedszkole Samorzadowe w ZPO w Woli Filipowskiej
The publication created on behalf of project Erasmus+ „My Culture, Your Culture, Our Culture”

2. Christmas Eve Dinner – kolacja wigilijna
The most important Christmas celebration in Poland
• Christmas Eve Dinner starts in the late afternoon or in the evening, depending on a family
(some people visit 2 or even more families during Christmas Eve, having 2 or more dinners).
The tradition requires that the dinner can start only after the first star is visible in the sky.
Kids keep looking out the window waiting for the first star (children want to start dinner as
soon as possible to proceed after to the next part – Christmas gifts).
• Dinner starts with sharing the Christmas wafer (opłatek – baked from wheat flour and
water, usually rectangular). Each guest receives a piece of a wafer and then people share it
with one another eating a piece of a wafer and making wishes (wishes usually refer to the
previous and next year). There is also a special pink wafer for animals. The tradition says
that animals are endowed with the power of human speech on Christmas Eve.
• Another tradition is to have an extra seat at the table (including a plate and cutlery) for an
unexpected guest – someone in need, poor, lost, lonely or without family – since nobody
should be alone during Christmas.
• Under the tablecloth, Polish people put some hay to remind guests that Jesus was born in
a stable.
• In some families, the dinner starts with reading a fragment of the Bible, New Testament
according to St. Luke about the birth of Jesus Christ.
• The tradition requires that the Christmas Eve Dinner includes 12 courses (all dishes must be
meat-free). Typically, the dinner includes carp fish (karp), beetroot soup (barszcz
czerwony), mushroom soup (zupa grzybowa) or fish soup (zupa rybna), dumplings with
mushroom or cabbage filling (pierogi), cooked cabbage with mushrooms (kapusta z
grzybami), herring salad (sałatka śledziowa), cooked vegetable salad with mayonnaise
dressing (sałatka jarzynowa). Desserts are included in 12 courses: noodles with poppy
seeds, honey, nuts, and dry fruits (kluski z makiem, makiełki), a dry fruit compote (kompot z
suszu), poppy seeds cake (makowiec), gingerbread cookies (pierniczki), cheesecake (sernik).
• Once the dinner is finished, it’s time to unwrap the gifts. Gifts are either under the
Christmas tree or there is a Santa Claus (Mikołaj) home visit.
• On Christmas Eve and during the next days of Christmas season, people sing carols (kolędy)
– traditional songs about the birth of Jesus, some of them originate in the 15th century and
are still very popular.
• Besides Christmas Tree which is richly decorated with colorful glass balls / baubles
(bombki) and lights, houses can be decorated with mistletoe (jemioła), poinsettia (gwiazda
betlejemska) and spruce twigs (gałązki świerku).

3. • After dinner, people attend a special midnight mass (pasterka) which ends the period of
fasting and celebrates the birth of Jesus. Some families in Poland, after they come back
home from church (the mass is very long, so usually it’s about 2 in the morning), start
another dinner – this time meat is allowed.

4. Christmas Day (Boże Narodzenie) and the Second Day of Christmas,
December 25-26 (bank holidays)
• People visit family and friends to celebrate together, they go to church, sing carols (kolędy),
spend long hours at the table.
• Unlike Christmas Eve dinner when meat dishes cannot be served, meals on Christmas Day
and the Second Day of Christmas are usually packed with meat dishes, e.g. hunter’s stew
(bigos), sausage (kiełbasa), pate (pasztet).
• It is worth visiting churches in Poland during the Christmas season – each church builds
its own unique nativity scene (szopka). Sometimes they are modern and metaphorical,
sometimes with lots of details that children will love, eg. animals, angels, different figures,
ornaments. Churches in Poland are usually open during the day. In some families, there is a
tradition (usually on Christmas Day and the Second Day of Christmas) to visit several
churches admiring and comparing nativity scenes in each one.
Adopted from the website: http://kidsinthecity.pl/polish-christmas-traditions-and-celebrations/