What Polish Easter Monday tradition is known as Śmigus-dyngus?

The Polish Easter Monday water-splashing tradition is known as Śmigus-dyngus.

Śmigus-dyngus, also called Wet Monday, is celebrated on Easter Monday in Poland. People splash one another with water using cups, bottles, water guns, or buckets. Children and young people often organize playful ambushes, while the scale of the custom varies between families and communities.

The modern name combines two older customs. Śmigus involved symbolic striking with willow branches or sprinkling, while dyngus concerned visits, gifts, and the possibility of avoiding a ritual by offering food or money. Over time, the practices merged into the water-based celebration widely recognized today.

Śmigus-dyngus is distinct from the Polish Easter tradition of blessing a basket of food, which takes place on Holy Saturday. The two customs may occur in the same holiday period, but they have different names, timing, and actions.