AUTHENTIC sights, sounds and smells of Poland filled Queen’s Park on Sunday for a day dedicated to celebrating everything the country has to offer.

The Polish Catholic Mission organised the annual Polish Day which saw members of their own community join Swindonians for a fete which featured food, fun and plenty of live entertainment as they celebrated their cultural heritage.

Despite some drizzle in the afternoon, the event, which is now in its second year, saw masses of families take advantage of the festivities that aimed to give the town a flavour of Poland.

Daniel Czachorowski, 29, one of the organisers said he was pleased to see everyone enjoying themselves.

“The concept of Polish day is a bit bigger than just the event here in Queen’s Park," he said. "The Polish community here in Swindon is one of the oldest communities in the UK and so we have quite an older generation of Polish people who have lived here for some time.

“The whole purpose of this event is to raise awareness that there are quite a lot of people from Poland here and the Swindon community has been very interested in coming to celebrate with us.

“We are all very friendly and behind the idea of gathering here to share experiences and I work with international teams so I know how important it is to make these links with different nationalities so it is great to make this sort of thing happen it be received well."

Featuring live music and entertainment, workshops, a BBQ as well as children’s entertainment and bouncy castles, visitors to the Polish Day were able to sample some of the country’s traditional sweet and savoury delicacies and find out more about their culture.

Daniel added: “Every single person here who has organised the event are volunteers and we do it because we want to.

“Every stall is supporting the Polish community whether it is a business selling food or an organisation looking to offer advice and the money we raise will be put back into upgrading the facilities for the Polish community in the town.”

Mayor Maureen Penny kicked off proceedings by opening the event which was supported by a number of charitable organisations as well as Wiltshire Police.

Krysia Sas, who is part of the Polish Folklore Dance Group who performed a traditional dance from Cieszyn on the day said: “We came here last year but in different costumes as we like to perform dances from different regions.

“Last time we performed a dance from Krakow and what we have found is that people tend to think there is only one form of dress but that is why we like to perform something different every time.

“It is good to get responses from people in the community and we get invited to dance at other events and parties because of the novelty of it.

“There is not many, if any, traditional English country dances or costumes. Because Poland’s existence has been threatened in history, our people have clung onto their traditions so it is nice that they are being celebrated here.”