The Great Dragon Parade will be held in Kraków for the 10th time over the first weekend of June. This year’s jubilee event will be celebrated with special revelry. Initially a small event launched in 2000 by the Groteska Puppet, Mask and Actor Theatre, within a few years it has become a great spectacle attracting crowds of dragon enthusiasts from Poland and abroad. As usual, Dragon Day lovers may expect a variety of attractions and surprises. The Dragon Jubilee will begin with the Great Parade of Dragons, Knights and Damsels marching down the streets of Kraków. This colourful procession will be attended by over 1000 children, accompanied by musicians, stilt-walkers, dancers and jugglers. Over 40 dragons will compete for the title of the Most Beautiful Dragon of the Parade. The Dragon Picnic, held at the Vistula River Embankment for two days, will become a family event. The event will culminate in the Great Open-Air Show on the Vistula river, a breathtaking spectacle involving gigantic inflatable dragons dancing to the music,  as well as fireworks, smoke and laser show. All dragon lovers are welcome to the 10th Jubilee PGNIG Great Dragon Parade under the patronage of PGNiG!


PROGRAMME OF THE 10TH PGNiG GREAT DRAGON PARADE:


Great Parade of Dragons, Knights and Damsels

5 June (Saturday) 12.00-2.00 pm, Grodzka Street – Main Market Square

Over one thousand children from all over the country will take part in the Great Parade of Dragons, Knights and Damsels. The dragons, 4-meter long or more, have been designed and constructed by the children, who will also animate them during the parade.  All dragons will compete for the title of the Most Beautiful and the Most Ingenious. The children and their dragons, accompanied by dancers, music bands, knights and damsels as well as stilt- walkers and jugglers, will walk down the streets of Kraków’s Old Town in a colourful pageant to the sound of music and dragon roars. For a few hours all of them will become actors in a huge open-air spectacle watched by the residents of Kraków and visitors arriving for this special occasion.

Announcement of winners:
the Most Beautiful Knight and Damsel Competition –  1:30 pm
the Most Beautiful Dragon Competition –   2:00 pm

Open-Air Show on the Vistula River

5 June (Saturday) 9:45 pm, the Vistula River Embankment at the foot of the Wawel Hill
 
The Great Open-Air Show, a light-and-sound show on the Vistula river, combines pyrotechnic effects, music, light and water curtains. The spectacle features large-size swimming and flying dragons (up to 25 m in length and 15 m in height), tremendous creatures positioned on barges and ships, animated by the Groteska Theatre actors. This year’s Jubilee Event will see new fantastic representatives of the dragon species including the cast of the Dragon Exhibition for the Shanghai World Expo.

 
Dragon Family Picnic

5-6 June, the Vistula River Embankment near the Dragon’s Cave
The 2nd Dragon Egg Artistic Competition – concerts, performances, contests, knight tournament
5 June (Saturday), 11:00 am - 9:00 pm
6 June (Sunday), 11:00 am - 7:00 pm

Visitors may enjoy an interesting programme which includes a knight tournament, contests, concerts, theatre group performances, the 2nd Dragon Egg Artistic Competition and many other attractions. This two day family event will feature a number of dance and music groups along with children’s groups representing cultural centres and dance schools as well as professional performers such as THE 30TH OF JULY, a space rock group from Kraków.

More information: www.groteska.pl; www.paradasmokow.pl


Please come to see our Polish-Norwegian street show

Sigurd Fighting the Dragon dir. by Svein Gundersen (Kulturproduksjoner Oslo)

Street show:
12 June 2010 (Szczepański Square) and 13 June  (Aleja Róż) Kraków
18-19 June 2010 Oslo

Based on the Nordic legend about Sigurd the brave, this street show is a joint project developed by Polish and Norwegian artists. Dynamic action, battle scenes, drumming, singing and dancing were all inspired by the Scandinavian mythology. Set design and costumes were made by way of cooperation among the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków, Oslo University College and the Groteska Puppet, Mask and Actor Theatre in Kraków. The spectacle will feature actors from Norway and Poland. Sigurd Fighting the Dragon, a colourful street show, is an impressive result of collaboration between established artists from Oslo and Kraków.

Activity implemented as part of the project entitled ‘Elements. Elementer og Mythos. The Great Dragon Parade’ supported by the Cultural Exchange Fund.
Support provided by Iceland, Lichtenstein and Norway through the European Economic Area Financial Mechanism and the Norwegian Financial Mechanism.