The annual Borderland Culture Festival in the northeastern town of Mrągowo, in the heart of Poland’s picturesque lake district, featured music groups, choirs and song-and-dance ensembles from neighbouring Lithuania, Belarus and Ukraine.
Guest performers included the Polish-Ukrainian electro-folk-jazz collective Dagadana, which aims to highlight the shared cultural traditions of Poland and Ukraine, broadcaster Radio Olsztyn reported.
Dagadana. Photo: Press kit/Dominika Dyka
One of the event's organizers, Hanna Szymborska, from the Society of Friends of the Vilnius Region, told Radio Olsztyn that the annual festival is of great value to Poles living in countries that were once part of the Soviet Union.
"It is about maintaining our national traditions, culture and language," Szymborska said.
"We want this festival to continue and develop," she added.
The Borderland Culture Festival is held annually in Mrągowo after it was initiated more than a quarter century ago by the local branch of the Society of Friends of the Vilnius Region, in present-day Lithuania.
The event usually includes events in and around a local culture centre and a concert at the northeastern Polish town’s landmark open-air theatre by the shore of Lake Czos.
There are also poetry readings, artwork displays and tastings of borderland dishes.
Mrągowo's scenic open-air theatre overlooking Lake Czos. Photo: PAP/Tomasz Waszczuk
Special message of peace and solidarity with Ukraine
Agnieszka Michalska, an actress and head of the Mrągowo Culture Centre (MCK), told public broadcaster Polish Radio that, due to the war in neighbouring Ukraine, this year's festival was scaled down from previous years and was instead devised to carry a special message of peace and solidarity with Ukraine as the country battles Russia's invasion.
The event aimed to "emphasize the fragility of peace and how important it is to come together in support of peace," Michalska said.
"Peace is the most precious commodity we have," she added. "We should cherish it and care for it."
Agnieszka Michalska. Photo: PAP/StrefaGwiazd/Marcin Kmieciński
Bridging cultures
Many of the town’s residents have ancestral ties to areas east of Poland that were once part of the country before borders shifted after World War II, according to organizers.
Following decades of convoluted history, many residents in Poland's northeast are descendants of arrivals from regions that are now in Lithuania, Belarus and Ukraine but were part of Poland before World War II.
As a result of postwar border changes, Poles living in those areas were resettled further west to towns such as Mrągowo.
After Poland’s borders shifted sharply westward after WWII, the country lost some of its eastern territories, known as the Borderlands, to the former Soviet Union, while gaining others at the expense of Germany.
Mrągowo, a popular vacation resort in what is known as the Land of a Thousand Lakes, was once called Sensburg and was part of East Prussia before the borders were redrawn more than seven decades ago.
Launched in 1995, the Borderland Culture Festival was held in Mrągowo for the 27th time, using funds from sponsors including the Polish Prime Minister's Office and the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.
Monday is day 180 of Russia's war against Ukraine.
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Source: polskieradio.pl, mck.mragowo.pl, radioolsztyn.pl