Polish Easter Festivities?

Question

What kind of traditional festivities are celebrated during Easter week in Poland. Is there a calendar of events, say for processions or the equivalent of the USA's Easter Egg Hunts?

Yes, being a Catholic school kid, I remember the Good Friday silence well.
I was wondering though, because I will be a tourist in Poland during this week if there are planned events like the Egg Hunts we have in the US.

Answer 1

Let me make some corrections in Marysia's reply.
During Lent, "Gorzkie Żale" (Bitter Lamentations) is a Sunday afternoon service, while "Droga Krzyżowa' (Stations of the Cross) is a Friday Evening service.
Easter festivities open with Palm Sunday - a week before Easter - to commemorate Jesus Christ's arrival in Jerusalem. There is a procession with "palms" - bunches of willow branches, but often, in some regions, very elaborate structures ten feet high or more.
Holy Thursday Evening Mass commemorates the Last Supper and priesthood. At the end of the service, the Holy Sacrament is carried in a procession to a "prison", to commemorate Christ's imprisonment.
On Good Friday there is no mass, people fast, and in the evening there is a service to commemorate Crucifixion. The Holy Sacrament is carried in a procession to a "grave".
On Holy Saturday people go out with "święconka" (a piece of bread, sausage, some eggs and a small cake) to their local church, to have it blessed. They also pray at the Christ's "grave" and sometimes visit neighboring churches, to look at the "graves" there. In the evening, there is a ceremonial Mass which commences Easter festivities.
On Easter Sunday morning, usually at 6.00 AM, there is a so-called Resurrection Mass, with a procession, to the accompaniment of explosions of crackers, to commemorate bursting the stone blocking the entrance to the cave, in which Christ was buried. Then people come back home to Easter Sunday breakfast - the most elaborate meal on that day. The first dish is pieces of the bread, sausage and egg from "święconka", accompanied by good wishes of prosperity.
Easter Monday is much like a typical Sunday, except that when you go out, you must beware of young people celebrating the "śmigus dyngus" tradition which involves drenching other people (usually teenage girls) with water.

Answer 2

while i'm speaking for a Polish American - there is the 40 hours devotion done sometime throughout lent. there is the weekly or monthly Gorky Zale (bitter lamnetations) service. stations of the Cross.
Holy Thursday is usually spent visiting churches after mass services with prayers hours for the men and then the women of the parish. in true tradition the church would be open all night with people keeping constant vigil. you also go and visit the surrounding parishes to pay homage to Christ.
Good Friday - mass and everything closed! when we were kkids everything in our town was closed at least between noon-3pm. we didn't eat or play inside or out - the rest of the day was generally spent in somber mode. in the evening you would be preparing for the Swienconka feast. fasting and abstaining from meat.
Holy Saturday -- preparing the baskets and then off the the blessing. i'll see if i can find the infroamtion for that. fasting and abstaining from meat.
Easter Sunday - Ressurrection mass and then home for the first thing you eat - the blessed egg - shared by the eldest member fo the family proclaiming - Wesolego Alleluja! the Swienconka meal - different by region but consisting of similar items. our pastor always told us that the children get to have their sweets but not before they eat a little horseradish - to symbolize the bitterness of the Passion and the sweet reward of the Ressurection!

Answer 3

As for smigus-dyngus tradition (probably rising out of ancient fertility rituals), it is customary to sprinkle women with water. As a woman - you are expected to scream in protest, terror, or whatever, but make it look like a big affair ;)

Now this can vary - if it's a cultural man just keeping up the tradition, you'll get literaly a few drops of water. If it's a kid, expect a toy gun loaded with water. If there's a bunch of teenagers, especially the less-cultural kind, I'm sorry but you should ready yourself for several bucketloads of water. Sometimes stupid kids drop plastic bags or flush water from buildings. Be aware of that!

Note: it is not customary, but accepted in the tradition that a woman (traditionally, this was for young, unmarried girls) to fight back with your own bucketload of water!

Generally speaking, the tradition calls to stop sprinkling at noon. As for hooligans raiding towns with buckets, police tries to prevent that, and usually with good results (I remeber when they had to call out riot squads to supress that, but it doesn't seem to happen any longer these years). A shot from a water pistol is, however, seen as acceptable and harmless, if unpleasant.
Having a male company is likely to keep you dry, at least most of the time...