Mazury Local Customs

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If you happen to visit Mazury in June, go to Krutyn on the 23rd of the month to watch the celebrations of St John's Night. We were lucky as it was our last night there and I knew in some places it was celebrated on the following Saturday or... not at all. So we were overjoyed to see the posters announcing the event. St John's Night on the beautiful Krutynia River! We couldn't believe our luck.
The festivities started early - as the main actors there were the local children, the party had to finish before their bedtime. All the children were dressed in white and were wearing wreathes on their heads. Yes, the boys too. :) There was singing, dancing, fortune-telling in front of the bonfire and then the party moved to the banks of the river. The girls were now carrying self-made wreathes which they then dropped on the water from the boat. And some of the young (very young:)) men jumped into the river to catch them. Some had even forgotten to take their clothes off so they were later dripping wet. Now the guests were invited into the boats too and the party moved upstream. Finally, everybody was treated to sausages roasted in the fire. It was all good fun, even better because the smoke from the fire kept the mosquitoes away.
For more pictiures of the festivities see the travelogue.