Uploaded June 2019 | Updated September 2026, 4 hours ago
A summer local tradition and a symbol of Kraków, Lajknoik, dresses in richly embroidered red robes, a tall, pointed hat and an embellished black bushy beard and eyebrows. Lajkonik (literally ‘hobby horse’ in Polish) prances about town on his own two feet brandishing a golden mace which he uses to bash eager spectators on the head for good luck and collect ‘ransoms’ in the form of food and booze from local shopkeepers, en route to his rendezvous with the mayor on the market square.
A summer local tradition and a symbol of Kraków, Lajknoik, dresses in richly embroidered red robes, a tall, pointed hat and an embellished black bushy beard and eyebrows. Lajkonik (literally ‘hobby horse’ in Polish) prances about town on his own two feet brandishing a golden mace which he uses to bash eager spectators on the head for good luck and collect ‘ransoms’ in the form of food and booze from local shopkeepers, en route to his rendezvous with the mayor on the market square.
