The Bremond Chamber of Commerce is busy getting ready for what should be a record breaking crowd that will come to celebrate Bremond’s rich Polish heritage at Polski Dzien (Polish Day) XXVI on Friday and Saturday, June 21 – 22, 2013. This year’s festival will feature lots of delicious Polish food, cold piwo and plenty of Polish music by Dr. Jim Mazurkiewicz, Brian Marshall and friends.
Although the main festival is on Saturday, there are always lots of people having fun in downtown Bremond on the night before Polski Dzien. Texas Slav & German Warehouse will have live rock, folk and country music with Denise Gouge and friends at their warehouse in downtown Bremond starting at 8pm and there will be a free polka music street dance at 8pm on Friday night with music by Jerry Haisler and the Melody 5.
Saturday’s festivities start early with the Polish Pickle Run at 8:00 AM and the Kids 1K run immediately after the adult run. Arts and crafts and food booths will open early Saturday morning. Shirts, caps, flags, polish pottery, amber rosaries, polish folk dolls and much more will be available from Texas Slav & German Boutique at their warehouse on Main Street.
There will be lots of fun for the kids with a petting zoo, pony rides, train rides and a Kid’s Zone with water slides. The big parade with lots of Polish themed floats starts at St. Mary’s Catholic Church at 10:30 AM and makes its way downtown. Other events for Saturday include judging of the barbecue entries, 42-tournament, horseshoes, washers and volleyball. Be sure and stop by the air-conditioned Bremond Historical Museum and check out the exhibits.
There will be plenty of good Polish food for everyone this year. Texas Slav & German Warehouse will be serving family style Polish food all day long in their warehouse on Main Street, Bremond Video & Ice Cream Parlor will have Polish food this year in their air-conditioned store on Main Street and of course, Groholski Store will have plenty of their famous kielbasa for sale.
Saturdays musical entertainment will be provided under the big tent from about 11am to 3pm. Dr. Jim Mazurkiewicz will be playing old time Polish music on his concertina along with Mark Hopcus, Frank Motley, James Mazurkiewicz, C. J. Jozwiak and others. The Fence Post Pickers will be playing bluegrass music at noon in the Texas Slav & German Warehouse and at 3pm Polish danceband fiddler Brian Marshall, along with sons Jakub and Michal and lots of talented friends, will entertain the crowd with his own brand of old time Polish music, including some of Bremond born fiddler Steve Okonski’s old songs. The long day ends with a street dance from 9 pm to 1 am with music by The Crossroads Band
Below is a slide show of photos from last years Polski Dzien:
James Smock has always held an interest in his Polish ancestors and heritage. He is a native Houstonian with Polish roots in Bremond, Marlin and New Waverly, Texas.