Lajkonik Polish Folk Ensemble

Lajkonik Polish Folk Ensemble brings colorful and exciting Polish folk song and dance to the Tucson community and beyond. Performing in colorful authentic traditional costumes, we bring authentic dancing to life on stage with humor and energy. As food is part of the culture, we are happy to prepare Polish food for our fundraising. We learn Polish cooking from our Polish families and community members and then share every year at TMY or on our Polish Night fundraiser. The money we make helps us pay for practice space, dance workshops, music, travel to festivals, and most importantly for original costumes made in Poland.
Our booth has been with TMY since its second year of existence, and our dance troupe, Lajkonik, has performed in the festival since we formed. We are lucky to be in a town that so values its cultural diversity, and we are grateful to have had so much help developing our art form. Every year the Polish community helps us with food preparation, passing on Polish traditions and teaching us new things. Our current leader, Matthew Schmit, is the son of our group’s founder, Joanna Schmit. Matthew learned how to cook Polish food from both his mom and his Babcia, grandma, on his frequent visits to Poland.

Festival Menu

Festival Menu
KIELBASA, $9 Polish sausage on a French roll with choice of ketchup, mustard
KIELBASA, with KRAUT $10
PIEROGI, $5 Polish dumplings (4), stuffed with potato and cheese with choice of sour cream or sautéed onion
POTATO PANCAKES, $4 Fresh of the griddle (3) with choice of sour cream or apple sauce (pancakes: flour, potatoes, onion, eggs, salt, pepper)
COMBO, $15 Kielbasa with kraut, 2 pierogi, 2 potato pancakes

More about our food:
Polish KIELBASA is a garlicky, smoked pork sausage stuffed with spices, grilled and served on a European-style bun. There’s nothing more authentic feeling than a big bite of Kielbasa and a cold beer (at home!). Traditionally, there are many different types of kielbasa, but this kind seems to bring back memories of campfires and festivals.

PIEROGI are Polish dumplings. Ours are stuffed with creamy farmer’s cheese, salty potato, and delicious caramelized onion, ground into a savory hit-that-sweet-spot filling. Top them with more caramelized onions or sour cream. Pierogi are an expression of love, taking hours to make from humble ingredients, to be eaten quickly and with gusto. These freshly made-from-scratch Pierogi are donated to Lajkonik by Polish Cottage restaurant from Tucson. (http://www.polishcottageaz.com/)