Festival parade and inaugural concert

Freedom is a sacred word. One of the most beautiful words. It was this very word that shone out on that Sunday afternoon above the varicoloured, laughing, dancing and singing parade of the FESTIVAL OF THE CHILDREN OF MOUNTAINS. Then, two champions of freedom loomed up on the horizon amidst Poland’s turbulent history. One fought for her with words, the other - with his sabre, leading the united Poles representing various estates. For a brief moment too, this path leading to the heart of the town had its patrons - those who shaped the most glorious period in our country’s history: the great dynasty and the teacher associated with it.

A riddle? Let’s solve it!

The parade of the thirty-third FESTIVAL OF THE CHILDREN OF MOUNTAINS set off from the Stara Sandecja Common (which was the destination last year), proceeded down Aleje Wolności [Freedom Avenue], before turning into Mickiewicza Street at its end (or beginning, depending on how you look at it) – named after the great bard of the Partitions era. Then a left turn. This street is named after Jan Długosz, the tutor to the children of Kazimierz Jagiellończyk. It is also on this street that SOKÓŁ Małopolska Culture Centre [SOKÓŁ - a falcon] proudly spreads its wings. At this magnificent edifice, the Festival participants turned left into Kościuszki Street, named after the leader of the uprising, in which many peasants bravely fought shoulder to shoulder with the nobility. And the final stretch before reaching the Market Square, the parade made its way down Jagiellońska Street.

I’ve already seen 21 inaugural concerts. Most of them took place here, in the market square in front of the Town Hall. They were very similar. Always a few words from our special guests, the handing over of the keys to Nowy Sącz, and the music of those keys. Finally, all the ensembles perform a few-minute excerpt from their main set. There used to be fireworks as well.

It was much the same on that thirty-third Sunday. Patryk Rutkowski and Hanka Rybka welcome the audience and the ensembles as they enter the market square. Representatives of each ensemble take to the stage, carrying a name board and their national flag. Andrzej Zarych, the director of the SOKÓŁ Culture Centre and chief director of the Festival, officially opens the 33rd FESTIVAL OF THE CHILDREN OF MOUNTAINS. Short speeches by prominent figures: Jadwiga Wójtowicz – Deputy Chairof the Małopolska Provincial Assembly, Magdalena Trzaska – Head of the Programme Department at the National Institute of Rural Culture and Heritage, and Michał Nowak – Member of the Nowy Sącz County Executive Board. Then, these persons, along with Dorota Majerczyk - the chairwoman of the Festival’s Artistic Committee, and Stanisław Kowalik - the Festival chaplain, hand over the keys to Nowy Sącz to the representatives of the ensembles. With a symbolic clink of the keys, the children officially mark the beginning of their comradeship and take control of the town for the next six days.

The PIĄTKOWIOKI adult ensemble take to the stage, as is the tradition at the Festival, and then are followed – in what is also now a tradition, albeit a much more recent one – by BARTUSIE Folk Ensemble named after Bartuś Obrochta. The latter perform - which is exactly this tradition - as a participant in the International Festival of the Highland Folklore, a festival friend of the FESTIVAL OF THE CHILDREN OF MOUNTAINS.

The next ones to take to the stage are: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday… that is, the ensembles we’ll be able to see on those days at the MOSIR multi-purpose hall on the Kamienica river.

So, Kamil,you are practically saying that everything’s just as it was in the olden days! Well, not exactly. I’ll remember this concert, because it was the first one that took place largely in the rain. And you can “regard that in a twofold manner,” as the late, great Joanna Kołaczkowska says in her brilliant skit: it was indeed raining, it was wet, quite a few spectators gave up, and only the most persistent ones stayed on. On the other hand, it was “just” raining. Thunderstorms, hailstorms and torrential rain swept through the environs of Nowy Sącz.

In the end, the stage announcers revealed to us what values were to actuate the upcoming evening concerts on Nadbrzeżna Street. Patryk and Hanka didn’t say it was a secret, so I’ll go ahead and say it: on Monday the theme will be ‘mum’, and on Tuesday… yes, you’ve guessed it – ‘dad’. Then ‘home’, ‘love’, and finally, on Friday, that which the world so sorely lacks, and which is to be built through children’s friendship at THE FESTIVAL OF THE CHILDREN OF MOUNTAINS, namely ‘peace’. And we also began learning a new festival song for this year. I can reveal the lyrics too:

Good night, my dears,
because it’s already getting late
and we’ve got to hurry home,
because mum is waiting for us.

Let’s sleep well all night long,
Angels also watch over us,
We’re gonna see each other again tomorrow
And we’re waiting for you here! 

Good night, good night

And let me say it too, if you’re reading these words in the evening: “goodnight”, and if at any other time of day… well… eventually the night will come… just as it did after the thirty-third inaugural concert of the FESTIVAL OF THE CHILDREN OF MOUNTAINS.