Grojec is located in the picturesque valley of Rudno - a left-bank tributary of the Vistula - partially on the flat-toppped hill of the Tenczynek Prominence, in the Alwernia commune, which is a part of the Cracow conurbation. The name of the village is derived from the word “grójec” which means an ‘enclosed space.’ At the beginning of the Jurassic period, in the surroundings near the village there was a lake in which loam (a type of clay), and mainly kaolinite, settled. In these loamy formations vegetation left its imprints. In more recent times, the town came to be famous for its fire clay, the so-called Grojec clay. In 1910, the output of the Stella mine in Grojec amounted to around 600 freight cars per year. The Grojec mine was in operation until 1950, and in 1956 it was definitively closed down. For years now, the region has cultivated the traditions of the ethnographic group of Krakowiaks. KRAKOWIACZEK Song and Dance Ensemble was established in Grojec in 2003, and is affiliated with the Local Community Centre in Alwernia. The ensemble members are children and youth aged 6-25. Currently, it has 40 members, and three age groups: rhythmic, children’s and youth one. Predominantly, the KRAKOWIACZEK repertoire includes the dance folklore of the Krakowiaks, but it also makes use of the folklore typical of Silesia, Lublin, Łowicz and Żywiec Districts, as well as the Sącz Lachs and national dances. At the Festival of the Children of Mountains the ensemble will present a programme entitled “Przed Majówką” [Before the May devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary], in which the preparations for the singing devotion at the nearby wayside shrine become an opportunity to have some fun. The children arrange to meet and play “skakanka”; “łabyndzie”; “Roz, dwa, trzy, Baba Jaga patrzy”; they dance “polka”, “oberek” and “krakowiak”; they accompany themselves by singing ditties. In the evening, the wayside shrine is also visited by teenagers, who, having decorated it with flowers and twigs, join the fun. The ensemble is accompanied by the musical band playing violins, a clarinet, a diatonic button accordion and a double bass. Teresa Majewska is the ensemble leader and choreographer, and Damian Czak is the musical band leader.