Merry Christmas in Polish

Merry Christmas in Polish is Wesołych Świąt! (merry holidays). The main celebration is Christmas Eve, Wigilia: a meatless family supper that begins when the first star appears.

How to say Merry Christmas in Polish

The everyday wish is Wesołych Świąt!, literally "merry holidays". Święta is a plural word meaning "the holidays", and at the end of December everyone knows which holidays you mean. The full name of Christmas is Boże Narodzenie, "God's Birth", and you can add it for a more complete wish: Wesołych Świąt Bożego Narodzenia!

Like birthday wishes, Christmas wishes stand for a longer sentence, Życzę Ci wesołych Świąt (I wish you a merry Christmas), and the verb życzyć puts everything in the genitive. That is why you hear Świąt, not Święta. Unlike birthday wishes, you answer Christmas wishes with wzajemnie or nawzajem, because the other person is celebrating too.

Christmas in Poland is three days long. Wigilia (Christmas Eve) is on 24 December, pierwszy dzień świąt (the first day of Christmas) on the 25th and drugi dzień świąt (the second day) on the 26th. Since 2025, Christmas Eve is also a public holiday, so most people have all three days off.

Wigilia: Christmas Eve

For most Polish families, the most important moment of Christmas is the supper on 24 December, called Wigilia or kolacja wigilijna. It is a family evening full of small rituals, and almost every home follows the same basic pattern. The word is also used for December office and school parties: wigilia firmowa, wigilia klasowa.

This is how a typical Christmas Eve goes:

1. During the day the family decorates the choinka, if it isn't up already, and sets the table with a white tablecloth. Many families put a little siano (hay) under the cloth, to remember that Jesus was born in a manger.
2. One more place is set than there are people: the dodatkowe nakrycie. It is for an unexpected guest or a lonely traveller, and many people also see it as a place for family members who have died or couldn't come. The idea is that nobody should be alone on Christmas Eve.
3. Children watch the sky for the pierwsza gwiazdka, the first star, a sign of the Star of Bethlehem. Supper starts when it appears, or at least when it gets dark.
4. Before eating, everyone shares the opłatek, a thin white wafer. Each person holds a piece, goes to every other person, breaks off a bit of their wafer and wishes them something for the coming year. Then they hug. Some families first read the Christmas story from the Gospel or say a prayer.
5. The meal itself is traditionally meatless, and there should be twelve dishes. You are supposed to taste every one for good luck in the new year.
6. After supper come the presents under the tree. Depending on the region they are brought by Mikołaj, Gwiazdor, Aniołek (a little angel) or Dzieciątko (the baby Jesus).
7. The evening ends with carols, and many people go to the midnight mass, pasterka.

While sharing the wafer, people improvise short wishes. These are the classics:

• Zdrowia, szczęścia i wszystkiego dobrego.
  Health, happiness and all the best.
• Spokoju i radości w nowym roku.
  Peace and joy in the new year.
• Żeby nam wszystkim dopisywało zdrowie.
  May we all stay healthy.
• Obyśmy za rok spotkali się w tym samym gronie.
  May we meet again next year, all of us together.

A few beliefs go with the evening. The best known is Jaka Wigilia, taki cały rok, "as Christmas Eve goes, so goes the whole year", which is why people try not to argue. Some keep a carp scale in their wallet all year so they won't run out of money.

The 12 Christmas Eve dishes

Twelve dishes is the ideal, often linked to the twelve apostles or the twelve months, but many families make fewer, and recipes vary by region and family. The Church no longer strictly requires a meatless supper, yet most Poles keep it by tradition. Fish is allowed, and carp is the star.

Some families still buy a live carp a few days before Christmas and keep it in the bathtub until the 24th. This is fading, and most people now buy it ready to cook. The barszcz is often served in cups, and arguments about whether real barszcz should come with uszka or with a pasztecik (a small savory pastry) are part of the fun.

Kolędy, pasterka and other Christmas words

Kolędy are Christmas carols, and Poland has hundreds of them. Families sing them after supper, and churches keep singing them until 2 February. Among the best known are Wśród nocnej ciszy, Bóg się rodzi, Lulajże, Jezuniu, Dzisiaj w Betlejem and Cicha noc (Silent Night).

Pasterka comes from pasterz, "shepherd", because the shepherds were the first to visit the newborn Jesus. The word kolęda has a second meaning too: the visit a priest pays to parishioners' homes in the weeks after Christmas. On 6 January many families write the letters K+M+B (for the three wise men) and the year in chalk above their front door.

Christmas wishes for cards

Polish Christmas cards follow a fixed pattern: adjectives for the kind of Christmas you wish, then the sender, introduced by życzy (wishes) or życzą (wish). In cards, Święta, Nowy Rok and the words for "you" (Ci, Wam, Państwu) usually take a capital letter.

• Zdrowych, spokojnych i radosnych Świąt Bożego Narodzenia oraz szczęśliwego Nowego Roku życzy Anna z rodziną.
  Anna and family wish you a healthy, peaceful and joyful Christmas and a happy New Year.
• Ciepłych, rodzinnych Świąt w gronie najbliższych.
  A warm family Christmas with your nearest and dearest.
• Niech magia Świąt przyniesie Wam spokój i radość.
  May the magic of Christmas bring you peace and joy.
• Pogodnych Świąt i wszystkiego dobrego w Nowym Roku!
  A happy, relaxed Christmas and all the best in the New Year!
• Wesołych Świąt, Mamo i Tato! Do zobaczenia przy wigilijnym stole.
  Merry Christmas, Mum and Dad! See you at the Christmas Eve table.
• Z okazji Świąt Bożego Narodzenia składamy Państwu najserdeczniejsze życzenia zdrowia i pomyślności w Nowym Roku.
  On the occasion of Christmas, we send you our warmest wishes of health and prosperity in the New Year. (formal, to clients or colleagues)

New Year: Sylwester and Nowy Rok

New Year's Eve in Polish is Sylwester, named after St Sylvester, whose day falls on 31 December. The word means both the date and the party. New Year's Day is Nowy Rok, and it is a public holiday.

• Co robisz na Sylwestra?
  What are you doing on New Year's Eve?
• Idziemy na imprezę sylwestrową.
  We're going to a New Year's Eve party.
• O północy otwieramy szampana.
  At midnight we open the champagne.
• Moje postanowienie noworoczne to więcej sportu.
  My New Year's resolution is more exercise.

People celebrate at house parties, in clubs or at big free open-air concerts in city squares, often shown live on TV. At midnight everyone counts down, opens a bottle, kisses and hugs and wishes each other Szczęśliwego Nowego Roku! Then the fireworks start.