Lajkonik Parade

Once a year, on the Thursday eight days after Corpus Christi, a man in a costume that reads as a Tatar - beard, turban, embroidered robe - riding a wooden hobby horse strapped at his waist, sets off from the Norbertine convent at Zwierzyniec and dances his way across Krakow to the main square, escorted by a band and a group in Tatar dress. He stops constantly, collects money in a bowl, and taps people with a mace, which is said to bring luck for the year. The story attached to it is that raftsmen from Zwierzyniec drove off a Tatar raiding party in the thirteenth century and paraded in the captured clothes. The costume in use was designed by Stanislaw Wyspianski in 1904. The walk takes several hours and ends with the Lajkonik dancing in the square and being given a symbolic tribute by the city. It is entered on Poland's national list of intangible cultural heritage.

What's there

• A hobby-horse rider in Tatar dress - dancing the whole route with a band behind.
• A mace tap for luck - the crowd pressing in for it along the way.
• Wyspianski's 1904 costume - the design still used.
• The square finish - a symbolic tribute from the city at the end.

When to go

Eight days after Corpus Christi, so late May or June. An afternoon.

Good to know

The route takes hours and the procession moves slowly and unpredictably. Crowds at the square end are dense. It happens on one day a year only - check the date well ahead.

Nearby

Zwierzyniec and the Kosciuszko Mound are at the start of the route.