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Poles flock to cemeteries to mark All Saints' Day

01.11.2019 07:00
On November 1 Poles traditionally mark All Saints' Day by visiting the graves of their loved ones.
Poles flock to cemeteries for All Saints day
Poles flock to cemeteries for All Saints' dayPhoto: Pixabay.com

Poles visit cemeteries to remember their deceased relatives and friends on All Saints' Day, a national holiday in Poland, and continue to do so through to All Souls' Day on November 2.

Special church services are being held to commemorate the saints throughout the country, with families laying flowers and lighting candles at gravesides.

Traffic increases in Poland in the run-up to the holiday, as many Poles travel hundreds of miles to cemeteries in their home towns.

Meanwhile, every year on that day Polish celebrities are raising money at Powązki, the oldest cemetery in Warsaw, for the renovation of historic tombstones and chapels, public broadcaster Polish Radio’s IAR news agency reported.

This year, the fundraising will last until Sunday, November 3.

Among the famous faces will be actors Maja Komorowska, Olgierd Łukaszewicz and Jan Englert.

Fundraising drives have been held at the cemetery since 1974. Thanks to the money collected, a total of 1,460 tombstones and chapels have been renovated so far, according to IAR.

The US tradition of Halloween is increasingly popular in Poland as well, with nearly one in five Poles declaring they were to take part in various Halloween events on Thursday October 31.

In the 18-24 age group, 31.6 percent of respondents said they were planning to celebrate Halloween.

Among those planning to celebrate, one in two respondents said they would deck out their homes with Halloween decorations. Some planned to spend the day watching horror movies and going to Halloween parties.

(tf)