On Saturday, hundreds of sheep returned to the villages of Kluszkowce, Dzianisz and Bukowina Tatrzańska in Poland’s southern Podhale region, local media reported.
The traditional spectacle attracted crowds of tourists.
Earlier this month, a flock of nearly 1,400 sheep reached the region after a 180-kilometer autumn trek from the Beskid Niski mountains.
The flock, led by head shepherd Józef Klimowski, set out from the village of Czarne on October 6 and reached the area around Nowy Targ on October 11, according to a report by state news agency PAP.
The journey was one of the largest of this year’s autumn redyki, traditional seasonal drives in which sheep return from mountain pastures to farms and villages after the summer grazing season.
Distinct highland culture
For centuries, such movements shaped life across the Polish Carpathians.
The autumn return traditionally marks the end of months of work for shepherds, who hand animals back to their owners and settle accounts for the season.
The custom remains part of working pastoralism in southern Poland, although many redyki have also developed into public events celebrating highland culture, music, food and crafts.
Another autumn redyk took place last Sunday in Zakopane, Poland’s best-known mountain resort.
Head shepherd Andrzej Staszel, known as "Furtek," and his son Wojciech led the flock from Kuźnice through the town toward Antałówka Hill.
Before setting out, shepherds performed traditional rites marking the end of the grazing season, including extinguishing the watra, the fire kept at the shepherd’s hut during the summer.
The procession ended near a church on Antałówka Hill with a blessing of the sheep and shepherds, music and dancing.
Earlier last week, Szczawnica in the nearby Pieniny mountains held a three-day Autumn Redyk from October 8 to 10. Its program combined the large sheep drive with meetings with shepherds, demonstrations of traditional work and regional products, and music.
The events follow the October 4 Polaniarski Osod festival in the Chochołowska Valley, which closed this year’s Tatrzańskie Wici, a series of 16 cultural events held across Tatra County.
The gathering also marked the end of the local Year of Pastoralism. Representatives of communities across Podhale brought torches to light a single ceremonial watra.
"Podhale tradition is not folklore presented on holidays," Tatra County head Andrzej Skupień said. "It is our language, customs, music, work, pastoralism and a way of life passed from generation to generation."
Skupień said traditional shepherding needed practical support if it was to remain a living part of the region.
More autumn sheep drives are scheduled before the season ends. A redyk is due to take place in the village of Ludźmierz on October 25, followed by further events later in the month.
The final scheduled redyk of the autumn season is due to take place in Lipnica Wielka, in the Orawa region, on November 7.
(rt/gs)
Source: PAP, zakopane.naszemiasto.pl