If you feel like throwing yourself into some fantastic folkish frolics, you could do little better than heading for Lipnica Murowana this Palm Sunday (March 20th). Every year the picturesque Highland village stages a vibrant competition to build the biggest festive palm, and the whole market place erupts in a blast of colour and song.
As you can imagine, palm trees themselves were not so common in medieval Poland, but not letting that get in the way, the Poles created their own unique version of the palm, a colourful creation that was woven from dried flowers and straw. Over the years the Polish Easter Palm has evolved into one of the most distinctive features of the country's Holy Week festivities.
In every town throughout Poland you'll find these palms, some the length of your elbow and others as much as six foot high. In Lipnica Murowana things are taken to a whole new level, with palms stretching as far up to the the heavens as possible, not unlike something out of Jack and the Beanstalk.
Although the palm has been an inextricable part of Easter processions since time immemorial, Lipnica's unique competition was first staged in 1958. It's been a much-loved fixture in the region's calendar ever since.
To get to Lipnica Murowana, you can jump on a bus from Krakow. It's a 41 kilometre journey south east through Wieliczka and Lapanow.
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