About
The Re:tradition – Jagiellonian Fair festival invites you to take part in a meeting full of emotions and sporting competition! The Lubartow pick-up sticks game (also known as bierki, birki or liszka) is a great, inclusive game, but also a way of discovering the extraordinary history of our region.
More than a hundred years ago, people in the Lubartow area played the Lubartow pick-up sticks game! They did not resemble the sticks we know today, but had their own distinctive appearance and rules. This dexterity game involved properly tossing and catching small wooden figurines whose shapes resembled household tools, decorative porch columns, or tags used by farmers to mark their sheep.
This regional game was mentioned in 1905 by Ludwik Stanisław Liciński – a poet, writer, and researcher of local folk culture. His article on the pick-up sticks game was published in the monthly geographic-ethnographic magazine “Wisła”.
The researcher also collected sets of pick-up sticks made by children and young people from those villages, and then included their names in his text. We were not able to find anyone today who remembers this game. But we met a woman who is the granddaughter of one of the boys mentioned by Mr. Liciński in his article! Perhaps the only preserved set of pick-up sticks from the Lubartow area is the one held in the ethnographic collections of the National Museum in Lublin.
In 2024, we managed to reconstruct the game and rework its rules based on the information recorded by Ludwik Liciński in his article.
If you want to see (and try!) what the Lubartow pick-up sticks game looks like, take part in our activities! At the beginning we will briefly talk about the game, show what it involves, and together try to master the rules, so that at the end we can hold a real gameplay session!
You can learn more about the Lubartow pick-up sticks game HERE.
Details
When: July 16 (Thursday), 17.00-19.30
Where: Workshops of Culture in Lublin, Grodzka 5a – auditorium
For: kids aged 10+ and adults
Sign up: via the online form
Admission free, limited number of participants, first-come, first-served basis
Accessibility
Read about the accessibility of the Workshops of Culture here.
Your individual participation needs: fill out the form.
About the Re:tradition – the Jagiellonian Fair festival
Re:tradition is an extraordinary festival of traditional music and craftsmanship. During three August days and nights, Lublin transforms into the capital of living traditional culture.
The festival program offers a wide range of attractions for both children and adults. It provides a unique opportunity to meet master artisans who, each year, showcase their exceptional handmade creations. Traditional music is also a key element of the Re:tradition festival, presented both in its authentic form and through the interpretations of contemporary artists.
The festival also features evening dance parties with live music, workshops, exhibitions, performances, film screenings, and meetings. Younger visitors can enjoy the Re:tradition Playground, where traditional games and pastimes are brought back to life.
The festival allows visitors to hear, see, touch, and experience folk culture, which during this time completely fills the streets of Lublin’s Old Town.
Details
Re:tradition – the Jagiellonian Fair
August 21-23, 2026
Lublin, the Old Town
Admission to the event is free.
Organizers: Workshops of Culture in Lublin, Cultural Institution of the City of Lublin, Lublin City of Inspiration
Honorary Patronage: Mayor of the City of Lublin – Krzysztof Żuk
Co-financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland from the Culture Promotion Fund.
