Celebrants Reap Harvest of Tradition

Members of the Pope John Paul II Polish Center in Yorba Linda dressed in colorful native dress to celebrate Dozynki, the traditional Polish harvest festival, Saturday and Sunday.

In Sunday’s harvest processional, participants wore sequined vests, flowered skirts and silk hair wreaths and carried farm tools and baskets filled with fruits and vegetables to symbolize the bounty reaped in the fields. They ate a ceremonial loaf of shepherd bread and toasted the lord and lady of the manor, a couple chosen by the center members, just as farm folks from the village did long ago.

Some of the prints on the fabrics were inspired by Polish folk art, called wycinanki (pronounced vin-chee-nahn-kee), paper cutouts created by people from rural areas.

The center’s 16th annual festival also offered a cultural program, with dance troupes swirling to mazurkas and polkas.