Poland
Polska1 region
Poland suits a visitor who cares about how Christmas is kept at home as much as the stalls, because the Wigilia supper on Christmas Eve is the centre of the whole season. Kraków is the base to choose. Its Main Market Square holds the city's market, and on the first Thursday of December the szopka makers bring their nativity scenes to the Mickiewicz monument for the city's annual contest. Wrocław puts its own market on its Market Square, and Gdańsk works as a base on the Baltic coast. Christmas Eve has been a public holiday since 2025, so expect the country to stay home that night.
How Poland keeps Christmas
- GwiazdorGwiazdor brings the presents on Christmas Eve in the Poznań region, Kuyavia, Kashubia and other parts of western and northern Poland. He grew out of the old carol singers who carried a star from house to house, and he used to wear a sheepskin and a fur hat and quiz the children on their prayers and carols before handing anything over.
- St Nicholas (Święty Mikołaj)Święty Mikołaj comes on 6 December, which Poles treat as the unofficial start of the season. Good children find small presents under the pillow or in boots cleaned the night before, and the naughty ones get a rózga (twig) or a lump of coal.
Families bake piernik (gingerbread) through Advent, which begins on 29 November in 2026. In Kraków, on the first Thursday of December, makers carry their szopki (Kraków nativity scenes) to the Adam Mickiewicz monument on the Main Market Square for a contest the city first held in 1937, and the best of them go on show afterwards at the city museum's Krzysztofory Palace. UNESCO added the szopka tradition to its list of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity in 2018.
Wigilia (the Christmas Eve supper) starts when the first star comes out, and children watch the window for it. Hay goes under the tablecloth and an empty place is often laid for a wanderer or someone the family has lost. Everyone shares the opłatek wafer and wishes each other well before anyone eats. The table carries no meat apart from fish, usually carp, alongside barszcz (beetroot soup) with uszka (little dumplings), pierogi and herring, and some families serve twelve dishes for the twelve apostles. Presents come out after the meal.
Pasterka (Midnight Mass) closes Christmas Eve and remembers the shepherds who came to Bethlehem. It is worship first, so a visitor should arrive early and stay quiet. Carols carry on in churches until Candlemas on 2 February. On Christmas Eve Kraków's florists dress the Mickiewicz monument in flowers.
Since 2025, 24 December has been a public holiday alongside the 25th and 26th, so plan for three quiet days and buy what you need before the 24th.
Market in Poland
Town in Poland
Event in Poland
Quick answers about Poland
What is the Kraków szopka contest?
Kraków's makers build szopki (nativity scenes) and bring them to the Adam Mickiewicz monument on the Main Market Square on the first Thursday of December. The city has run the contest since 1937, and UNESCO inscribed the tradition in 2018. The best entries go on show at the city museum's Krzysztofory Palace.
Is anything open in Poland on Christmas Eve?
Christmas Eve became a public holiday in 2025, and 25 and 26 December are holidays too. Families sit down to Wigilia when the first star appears, so book any restaurant meal well ahead and buy food before the 24th.
Who brings the presents in Poland?
In Poland, Gwiazdor or St Nicholas brings the presents. Gwiazdor brings the presents on Christmas Eve in the Poznań region, Kuyavia, Kashubia and other parts of western and northern Poland. He grew out of the old carol singers who carried a star from house to house, and he used to wear a sheepskin and a fur hat and quiz the children on their prayers and carols before handing anything over.