Beheading the Kite

[1] Since mid-19th century the ritual has become a part of Midsummer Eve, Whit Sunday or Corpus Christi celebrations.

Today in Polish villages (e.g. in Łączyńska Huta) the kite is symbolized by an effigy stuffed with feathers.

Local activists, actors and volunteers perform in a number of Kashubian villages (Łączyńska Huta, Wdzydze Kiszewskie, Szymbark, Strzelno).

After Florian Ceynowa's publications in the mid 19th century (two articles in "Nadwiślanin" magazine), the ritual was resurrected by activists, members of pro-Kashubian organizations, employees of ethnographic and open-air museums.

Today the tradition is based on Edmund Kamiński's text found in Jan Rompski's "Ścinanie kani.

The village leader or the executioner begin to circle around the pole, driving the audience away with a sabre to make room.

The village leader addresses the community and pronounces the kite guilty of all the sins, and sentences it to death.

The Executioner wraps the beheaded bird and its head in white cloth and carries it to a grave, where the catcher buries it.

Finally the village leader thanks the audience for attending;[6] the actors and all participants make a bonfire and celebrate.