The Polo Gate

Here lies the Polo Gate of Lublin. Lying at the southern end of Grodzka, every Saturday, the traditional Polo Roll is carried out.

At 8am sharp, the Polo cannon is fired, launching thousands of polos down the street, rolling down the hill.

The children then run after the mints (with the holes), and chase down the street, attempting to knock each other with their Polish polishing poles. If they manage to knock another small child down, they're said to be 'Polished' and have to run back up to the top of the hill, before being allowed to run down again. To avoid cheating, the Polish polishing poles are covered with a smear of Polish polish - basically pork fat with tiny burnt (crunchy) bits in. The wild polecats in the area chase the children with the Polish polish on them, which identifies them, and ensures no cheating.

Once the mass of rolling polos has been reached, the polish polishing poles are turned the other way up, and the polos are 'polled' down the streets, to the bottom of the hill.

The child with the most polos is then crowned (with the giant Polo of Lublin) and dubbed the 'Pollster' for the week.

Sadly this no longer happens as often as it should, and is largely ceremonial, with children in traditional dress of baggy jeans and baseball caps.