New Year’s Eve is a festive occasion that is celebrated in Poland on December 31. It is the day before New Year’s Day, which is the first day of the year in the Gregorian calendar.

Fireworks are lit and seen in the skies above many cities in Poland around midnight between New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. Many people toast drinks to farewell to the old year and welcome the New Year at this moment. It is also customary to wish friends and family a Happy New Year.

Other popular activities include sleigh rides, bonfires, dances, balls, parties and other forms of entertainment to celebrate the welcoming of the New Year.

New Year’s Eve is not an official public holiday in Poland, but it is a busy time of the year for many shops, restaurants, and other commercial businesses. Traffic may be heavy in some parts of the bigger cities and transport services may be busy, as many people travel to attend events or spend time with family and friends.

Here are few words you can wish to your Polish friends on New Year’s Eve (known as Sylwester in Polish – name came from Sylwester’s name day on that day).

Dziesięć, dziewięć … głośno liczę,

A Tobie Kochanie życzę:

Niechaj wszystko o czym marzysz,

W Nowym Roku się wydarzy. 

Ten, nine … I’m counting out loud,

A to you, my love, I wish:

That all about what you wish for,

In the New Year is going to happen.

✫

Aby od sylwestra cały rok był ekstra,
By marzenia się spełniały,
By pieniążki kieszeń Twą wypchały,
A uczucia nie znikały
I z serduszka wypływały.

I wish all year will be amazing from New Year’s Eve,
I wish your dreams will come true,
I wish your pockets will be full of coins,
And feelings do not disappear
And so they come truly from your heart.

✫

Rok się już kończy, rok się zaczyna,
Otwórzmy więc nową butelkę wina
I razem wypijmy za nasze zdrowie,
Aż się zakręci nam troszeczkę w głowie.

The year is already over, the year begins,
Open a new bottle of wine
And together let’s drink to our health,
We will stick around until we get a little dizzy..

✫

Kolejny Sylwester
Lecz życzenia te same
– byś w przyszłym roku zbudował zamek,
Byś miał sto koni i sto samochodów,
Byś nigdy do płaczu nie miał powodów.

Another New Year’s Eve
But the same wishes
– Hopefully next year you will built a castle,
You will have a hundred horses and a hundred cars,
And so you never have a reason to cry.

Happy New Year!

Szczęśliwego Nowego Roku!

Do następnego razu… (Till next time…)