Lentorama 2021: Take Your Holiday to Go

Day 28: Lajkonik Festival

This celebration held in Krakow, Poland, features a man dresses as the lajkonik, a folkloric figure dressed in Tatar clothing riding a wooden hobbyhorse. This man is the central figure in a procession that goes from a local convent to the city's market square, which includes other people dressed either in local traditional clothing or costumes with an eastern theme.

Along the procession route, the lajkonik touches people with his golden mace (which is thought to give good luck) and collects ransom money. Once at the square, the lajkonik meets up with the city's mayor, the ransom is exchanged, and a chalice is drunk to the health and good fortune of all of Krakow's citizens.

The origins of the festival are a little murky, but all stories agree it stems from the appearance of Tatar raiders in the 13th century, who may or may not have taken Krakow during the Mongol invasion of Poland. Most stories have Krakow repelling the invasion, with the lajkonik being created when locals put on Tatar dress either to celebrate their victory or to play a joke on the locals. 

In any case, the festival is held on the first Thursday after Corpus Christi, though it's not clear to me why that's so. This page gives a little more information on the festival, but nothing to help understand the date.