18–20 września 2026
Houston Polish Festival logo
September 29 – October 1, 2023

Polish Harvest Festival
2023

The autumn edition, with the harvest table, the silent auction and three days of folk dance.

All past festivals

How it went

The Harvest Festival closed out September on the grounds at Our Lady of Czestochowa, with the kitchen running the full menu and the stage in near-constant use across the weekend.

The centrepiece was the dożynki ceremony: a decorated harvest loaf carried up in traditional Kraków dress, presented to the festival's officials and blessed by the parish priest before the dancing started.

Elsewhere on the grounds, contestants worked through plates of pierogi blindfolded, the market stalls sold hand-painted eggs and Bolesławiec stoneware, and the beer garden ran under string lights until late.

Highlights

  • The dożynki harvest loaf ceremony and blessing
  • Blindfolded pierogi-eating contest
  • Folk troupes on the outdoor stage
  • Evening dancing in the beer garden

Kościół Matki Boskiej Częstochowskiej

1731 Blalock Road, Houston, Teksas 77080

From the weekend

  • A woman in Kraków folk dress — black embroidered vest, white blouse and red coral beads — and a man in a navy suit together holding a large round harvest loaf, its crust decorated with baked daisy shapes, resting on an embroidered white cloth. Polish and American flags stand behind them.
  • A priest in white vestments with a gold cross raising his hand to bless the harvest loaf as a couple hold it out to him. Behind them officials stand with hands over their hearts among flags and white floral decoration.
  • A man in Góral highlander dress — black felt hat, white trousers with embroidered appliqué and a wide leather belt — holding the decorated harvest loaf on the stage, with a volunteer in a green Polish Fest crew shirt beside him.
  • Four contestants sit blindfolded in maroon cloth at a long table set with plates of pierogi, while a host in a white blouse and red beads ties a blindfold on a young woman wearing a pink flower crown.
  • Three blindfolded men grinning at a white table, each with a plate of pierogi in front of them and their glasses folded on the tablecloth, a display of autumn flowers behind.
  • A zapiekanka close up: a long open-faced roll heaped with chopped mushrooms and melted white cheese, served in a red and white checked paper tray.
  • A gloved hand ladling sauce over grilled kiełbasa in a white takeaway box, with a tall stack of plates waiting behind.
  • Two red and white striped cartons filled with fried pastry dusted heavily in powdered sugar, standing on a speckled counter.
  • A volunteer in a red apron and white serving gloves piping cream into pastries at the counter, a wicker basket beside her and a customer's hand reaching in.
  • Volunteers in neon yellow and orange shirts working the drinks bar, its counter built on stacked hay bales and lined with wine bottles, cans and mixers.
  • A woman in a floral folk skirt and red beads speaking into a microphone with a young girl at her side, in front of a harvest display of sunflowers, hay bales and a painted rooster.
  • The festival banner: a Góral roundel showing a highlander in a black hat, beside the words Houston Polish Festival and a red outline of Poland, with red poppies and seed pods along the bottom edge.
Moving pictures

On film

A few short clips from the weekend. Sound is on the originals, so turn it up if you want the band.

  • Folk dancers in Kraków dress turning in a wide circle on the outdoor floor while a full crowd watches from under red umbrellas.20s
  • A troupe in navy embroidered waistcoats performing a step dance in formation in front of the seated crowd.20s
  • The live band set up on the Dożynki stage in front of a painted harvest backdrop.18s
  • The crowd dancing together under string lights after dark, adults and children in a long chain across the floor.20s

Earlier

Constitution Day Festival 2023