The 763rd St Dominic's Fair is behind us. After three weeks filled with trade, craft, food, culture, entertainment and social initiatives, we can say with full confidence that this year's Fair was a success.
Let's say it openly – St Dominic's Fair was buzzing with life. A rich range of trade, culture, food and entertainment drew crowds every day. The Fair's programme featured 312 items, dedicated both to those who want to spend their free time quietly, with family, and to those seeking excitement and active challenges. We also managed to encourage guests to make repeat visits to the Fair, so we fully delivered on this year's slogan – I'm coming back because I like it!
Thank you – to our sponsors, partners, residents!
We thank our partners and sponsors. We thank the services – the Police, the Municipal Guard and the Fire Brigade – GZDiZ and the Gdańsk Contact Centre. Without them, staging St Dominic's Fair would not have been possible. However, above all, we thank the residents of Główne Miasto and the Old Town for their patience and understanding. We hope that our cooperation in the coming years will go just as well. We will listen even more closely to residents' expectations, in order to work out even better solutions.
This year, especially for residents, we made Targ Węglowy available for use, where they could leave their cars at times when it was impossible to reach their homes (it will remain available in this form until the day the Fair infrastructure is dismantled). This idea proved to be a bullseye. Another solution that will certainly be developed in future years is Park&Ride at Polsat Plus Arena. It allows traffic in the city centre to be eased.
Time for a brief summary
Since it's over, it's time for a brief summary in numbers. 760 exhibitors from Poland, the United Kingdom, Germany, Lithuania, the Czech Republic, Greece and Ukraine. Among them, as many as 57 new craft exhibitors and artists appeared at St Dominic's Fair,
In addition, there were also the guest-favourite – fair-day celebrations – prepared by our partners: Bread, Pomeranian Social Economy, Craft, Kociewie, Equality and Volunteering, and, for the finale – on the last weekend – we hosted the Vilnius Festival in Gdańsk.
We also hosted consulates, which presented their culture, tourist attractions and treated guests to delicacies in their small pavilions. Our guests included Bulgaria, Ukraine, Germany and Hungary. Thanks to this, the Fair was also visited by many distinguished guests: the Ambassador of Bulgaria, Margarita Ganeva; the Honorary Consul of the Republic of Moldova, Jacek Tymiński; the Consul of Hungary, Dr Pál Attila Illés; and the Honorary Consul of Bulgaria, Jan Strawiński. Meanwhile, the Deputy Mayor of Vilnius, Simona Bieliūnė, visited the Fair as part of the Vilnius in Gdańsk feature, and on the Greater Poland street, the Deputy Marshal of the Greater Poland Voivodeship, Krzysztof Grabowski, encouraged visitors to buy regional products.
The Grand Prix was awarded to AgnaWoolArt (in the Good Idea category) for creative felting kits for children and adults to make themselves, and to Niebo w Gębie (in the Good Taste category) – exquisite specialities and preserves, which fair guests bought out completely. In addition, distinctions went to Code Zero, EyeIllusion, Cynamonki and EkoAnki.
See you next year!
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All information regarding St Dominic's Fair 2023 can be found on the website: jarmarkswdominika.pl; we also invite you to our social media: facebook.com/JarmarkswDominika, instagram.com/jarmarkdominika, tiktok.com/@jarmarkswdominika