St John’s Fair in Cracow

Between 2014 and 2019, I took part in the St John’s Fair in Kraków.

It was a regular event organised by the Kraków Festival Office on Czerwieński Boulevard, at the foot of Wawel Hill. The first St John’s Fair took place in 2009.

The aim of the event was to transport participants back to the realities of old Poland. Members of historical re-enactment groups, craftsmen and artists introduced visitors to the fair to old Polish customs. Between 2010 and 2012, the focus was mainly on medieval traditions; from 2013, a division was introduced: the first day of the fair was dedicated to the Early Middle Ages, the second to the Late Middle Ages, and the third to the Golden Age. In 2014, the third day of the fair was devoted to the 16th and 17th centuries.

It was an excellent event with great educational value. Visitors to the Fair could try their hand at short craft workshops. They had the chance to meet real craftspeople, both professionals and enthusiasts. At our stall, we ran a SCRIBES’ SCHOOL, introducing both adults and children to the art of writing. Our School was set up every year on Czerwieński Boulevard. Here, visitors could learn what ink was made of in the past, why parchment was not sold by the sheet, and how many times a day a scribe had to sharpen his goose quill. There were lessons on pigments and other painting materials used by medieval illuminators.  Anyone could try their hand at being a pupil at our school.

Unfortunately, in later years the event lost its educational and craft-based character, something I still regret to this day.

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