On 8 September 2025 the village of Strzelce Dolne near Bydgoszcz held its 25th Plum Festival. The lower Vistula valley here has grown plums for generations. After the previous day's downpours, hundreds of visitors still turned out for it.
Rain? No match for it
The cloudburst the day before had left the car parks waterlogged. The organisers did what they could to keep access open, though the soft ground caught out more than one driver.
An event grown to real size
Twenty-five years have turned the Plum Festival into a big affair. Stalls covered a whole field, and between them you could find most things you might want.
Discoveries in the kitchen
The homemade krówki stole the show. These soft milk toffees came in one flavour after another, each better than the last, and the chilli batch caught out even the bold.
Bread came in every shape a baker could think of, spread across several stalls, from plain wholemeal to blends of a dozen grains.
Craft and art
One stall of linen shirts stood out. You could order one cut to your measurements, which tells you how much the craft still matters here.
A local sculptor drew a crowd too. One of his carvings looked so much like the man himself that it may have been a self-portrait.
Our visit
We were passing through, but we stopped for the food. The pierogi, Poland's stuffed dumplings, tasted like the best home kitchen.
People smiled, lent one another a hand, and took their time over the day.
Twenty-five years of the Plum Festival show that a tradition worth keeping outlasts any forecast. The organisers have earned the next one.