"Juwenalia, juwenalia, kto nie pije ten kanalia". It’s one of the phrases which one can often hear each year in May on the streets of Kraków and other polish university cities and towns. It means: "It's Juwenalia and who doesn't drink is a rascal". Since the theme of our meeting is the carnival, I will take you today on a trip to Poland to talk about the celebration which every Polish student looks forward to. I will tell you about the origin, what it looks like and some crazy things which take place during this time.
The festival lasts for 3 days. The tradition dates back to the medieval times and since the very beginning it was a way of the local authorities to show to the students that they are important part of the community. They would hand to the student representatives the keys to the city gates in a symbolic gesture of ceding the control. They do it nowadays as well even though there are no gates at all. But tradition must be kept! The name comes from a Latin word iuvenalis, which means ‘juvenile’ and it’s indeed the festival of young people. To better understand what it looks like you need to know that Kraków is truly a students’ city. If you pick random 5 people, one of them will be a student and the other four? They would wish they were.
Everything starts with a parade from the university campus to the Main Market Square. Students dress up depending on their faculty and their creativity is unlimited. Let me give you a few examples. Those who study history march as soldiers, cavemen or princesses. Biology students have got plenty of insects to choose from. Engineers dress up as robots, space rockets or even electrical meters. Most of the costumes are handmade out of materials students can afford like bed linen or cartons. I once even saw somebody in hilarious armour made of beer cans. When I was a member of a white-water canoeing club I was proudly marching with a helmet on my head, a life-jacket, and a paddle in my hand. We were trying to paddle in every pool we could spot and chasing after girls giving them a friendly slap.
After the parade the proper celebration starts. In the evenings there are always plenty of concerts, students are barbecuing and of course drinking a lot. We don’t neglect the sport events but they’re obviously tailored to the occasion. One of them is a beer run where students race around the stadium and drink a pint of beer after each lap. More advanced athletes run up the stairs of the student house drinking a shot of vodka on each floor. The all-time record belongs to a chap who managed to reach the 10th floor.
I remember also that we wanted to check how fast one can drink a pint of beer. I was studying at the University of Science and Technology so we constructed something what we called a “beer drinking machine”. The idea was simple. One would poor beer into a hosepipe and put one end into the mouth. When the other end was lifted high, the pressure would force the pint of beer down the throat in less than 4 seconds. These were the days of our lives.
When did you feel that you had become an adult person? For me it wasn't when I moved out from my parents. It wasn't when I got my first pay check either. It happened in May 2005 when other students were rampaging carelessly through Kraków and I was stuck in an office working on a project, the name of which I can’t even remember now. I still miss my student life and would love to go back to the joyous times of unrestrained fun and experience the spirit of Juwenalia again! If you ever decide to travel to Kraków, try to make it during this fabulous time.
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