A Lasowiak Celebration Where the Willow Never Got a Moment’s Rest! 🥟🧺
There are some events where you plan to stop by for just a little while. Eat one pierogi, listen to some music, browse a few stalls… and then head home.
Then, before you know it, it’s evening, your phone is full of photos, your hands smell of willow, and Lasowiak melodies are still playing in your head.
That is exactly what happened at the 7th Lasowiak Pierogi Festival and the 5th Lasowiak Craft Festival, held on 19 July 2026 in the Market Square in Rozwadów. We were delighted to be part of the event and to run natural willow weaving workshops, showing that the best way to discover a traditional craft is… with your own hands.
Pierogi? Absolutely.
Willow? Of course.
Karol Okrasa? He was there too!
We have to admit – the competition for visitors’ attention was pretty fierce.
On one side, there was the irresistible aroma of freshly cooked pierogi; on the other, a live cooking demonstration by Karol Okrasa, who once again showed that traditional cuisine can be full of surprises when given a modern twist.
👉 Karol Okrasa’s official website:
https://karolokrasa.pl/
Fortunately, it turned out that after eating a few pierogi, there was nothing better than sitting down at a table with some willow. It’s a great way to burn off at least a few of those extra calories. We can’t promise you a six-pack, but your first willow weave? Absolutely!
Workshops that brought whole families together
Dozens of people stopped by our stand throughout the day.
There were children concentrating hard as they tried to master their very first willow rod.
There were parents who initially came over “just to watch”, only to find themselves asking a few moments later if they could have a go too.
And there were grandparents who smiled as they remembered a time when weaving was simply part of everyday life in many homes.
These are the conversations we value most. They remind us that traditional crafts do not belong behind glass in museum display cases. They are still very much alive – all it takes is giving people the opportunity to touch the willow and try weaving for themselves.
Lasowiak culture knows no borders
This year’s festival also had another particularly moving dimension.
Folk groups from Vancouver, London, Leicester and Stalowa Wola came together on stage, proving that Lasowiak and Polish traditions can be kept alive even thousands of miles away from Poland.
Watching them dance together, it was difficult not to think that culture works rather like willow.
Every individual rod matters, but it is only when they are woven together that they create something truly strong and beautiful.
Rozwadów and Rzeszów – two places, one mission
Events like these show just how strongly the Podkarpackie region celebrates and promotes its cultural heritage.
Just a few days earlier, we experienced a similar atmosphere at the World Festival of Polish Folk Groups in Rzeszów, where ensembles from around the world once again proved that Polish culture extends far beyond the borders of Poland.
More about the festival:
https://wspolnotapolska.org.pl/festiwal_rzeszow/2026/index.php
It is thanks to initiatives like these that traditions are passed on to new generations – both those growing up in Poland and those living in Polish communities around the world.
Why do we run workshops like these?
For us, weaving has never been simply about making baskets.
It is the story of our family, our region and a craft that we want to pass on to future generations.
Every child who picks up a willow rod for the first time, every adult who smiles and says, “It’s not as easy as it looks!”, and every person who leaves the workshop seeing a handmade basket in a completely different way reminds us why we do what we do.
Because once someone has woven a few willow rods with their own hands, they will never look at a handcrafted object in quite the same way again.
Thank you!
We would like to extend our warmest thanks to the organisers – Miejski Dom Kultury in Stalowa Wola – for inviting us to take part in this wonderful event, and to everyone who visited our stand.
Thank you for the conversations, the laughter, the curiosity and the dozens of questions about willow weaving.
And, of course, we hope the pierogi tasted every bit as good as it felt to create those first willow weaves.
We hope to see you at one of the next workshops organised by The Wicker Stories – because the best stories, just like the best baskets, are created when people come together around one table.
https://sparkingpoint.com/pl/stalowa_wola/1af26ef0
