Four Delicious Summer Food Festivals In Poland
Fancy a feast of regional Polish food? Visit some of Poland’s biggest open-air food festivals in the summer, the best season to explore the wealth of Polish cuisine.
Good Taste Festival in Poznań
Each August, the Old Town Square in Poznań fills with stalls full of regional food. More than 100 producers sell bread, cheese, fish, and meat next to an array of honeys and alcoholic drinks from various Polish regions. There's also the chance to try Italian truffles, wines, and meats and Hungarian mangalitsa pork specialities straight from importers. Foodies shouldn't miss the variety of traditional ready-made dishes: from pierogi through soups to desserts. But food stalls are not Good Taste Festival's only attractions. Its rich programme includes culinary shows and contests (e.g. for the best home-made nalewka spirit), themed dinners, workshops, taste labs, and meetings with specialists and connoisseurs.
Festival of Taste in Gruczno
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Garlic and marjoram goose fat with pickled cucumbers on rustic bread, photo: Michał Bedner / AG
Gruczno is a village in the Kujawy-Pomerania region of northern Poland and home to Festiwal Smaku (Festival of Taste), Poland’s most prominent celebration of traditional and artisan food. Held at the end of August in the meadows by an old windmill, the festival aims to present the culinary wealth of the region and promoting its local products, but it also features products from other parts of Poland.
Each year, there are hundreds of stalls selling excellent products, such as półgęsek, (a local speciality from smoked goose breast), cheese, cold meat, smoked fish, bread, liqueurs, ciders, spirits, cold-pressed oils, honey from unpolluted parts of Poland, fruit preserves and a variety of regional dishes. There is also a contest for the best product of the year, a festival of honey, a contest for the best nalewka, and a cooking competition.
How to get there? It's best to hire a car and visit some of the marvellous local attractions on the way, such as Copernicus’ hometown of Toruń or Chełmno, by the Wisła River, where the main attractions include historical Gothic architecture and an almost intact medieval urban layout.
Małopolska Taste Festival in Kraków
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Oscypki and bryndza production in Małopolska, photo: Jola Lipka / East News
Małopolski Festiwal Smaku (The Małopolska Taste Festival) has been held for over a decade to promote food products from the Małopolska (Lesser Poland) region. Organised by the region’s authorities, it is the largest event of its type in the area. Its semi-finals take place in June and July, while at the end of August all finalists gather at Wolnica Square in Kazimierz (Kraków’s historical Jewish district) to put up several dozen stalls and offer certified products, traditional local bread (e.g. prądnicki bread), cold meats (e.g. lisiecka and krakowska sausages), various types of cheese (e.g. oscypek, bryndza, and bundz), honeys, carp products from Zator, and alcoholic distillates. There are also culinary shows with dishes cooked from local ingredients.
European Festival of Taste in Lublin
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Photo: European Festival of Taste / Facebook
The European Festival of Taste in Lublin is a multi-faceted celebration of food, music, culture, and spirituality. Its programme includes open-air concerts, which always attract large audiences, taking them on musical tours to various parts of Europe. The Festival of Taste is a feast for every foodie: the stalls are full of local and foreign treats; there are taste contests, shows, tastings and workshops. Visitors will not only have a chance to try Polish regional products, alcohol, and dishes, but also learn a lot about Italian cuisine. The culinary guide accompanying the festival offers tips for the best restaurants in Lublin and surrounding areas, and it features recipes for the most famous local specialties.
Originally written in Polish, translated by EP, Jul 2016; updated by AZ, Aug 2017 & Jun 2018; updated by LD, Jun 2019
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