The 2026 prom season has come to an end. On the last weekend of February, farewell graduation balls were held at XV Liceum Ogólnokształcące in Bydgoszcz and XXX Liceum Ogólnokształcące in Łódź. Traditionally, the central point of the ceremonies was the polonaise dance, led by the graduating students. Journalists from regional media documented the events, publishing photo reports from elegant halls and student performances. The prom season, which traditionally begins in January, has thus been closed ahead of the upcoming period of intensive preparations for the final secondary school exams.
End of the Prom Season
On the last weekend of February 2026, the final prom balls were held, concluding the season of such events in secondary schools. The events took place in Bydgoszcz and Łódź.
Final Balls in Two Cities
XV Liceum Ogólnokształcące in Bydgoszcz-Fordon organized its ball on Saturday, February 27. A day earlier, on Friday, February 26, XXX Liceum Ogólnokształcące in Łódź held its ball, which local media described as the „last prom of the season”.
Polonaise Tradition and Photo Reports
During both ceremonies, the graduates traditionally danced the polonaise. Local newspapers (Gazeta Pomorska, Dziennik Łódzki, Express Ilustrowany) published photos documenting the elegantly dressed students, hall decorations, and the event atmosphere.
Pre-Exam Context
The prom symbolically begins the final stage of secondary school education, marking one hundred days until the start of the final exams. After the ball, students focus on intensive revision of the material.
The 2026 prom season has been officially closed after the final graduation balls, which took place on the last weekend of February in Bydgoszcz and Łódź. These events, a traditional custom preceding the final exams, gathered graduating students in elegant attire to symbolically begin the hundred-day countdown to the exams. The prom, a ball traditionally held about a hundred days before the start of the final exams, has been a fixed element of the calendar in Polish secondary schools for decades. Its central point is most often the polonaise dance, referring to old Polish tradition and often performed in historical or modern arrangements. This custom, although it has evolved over the years, remains an important rite of passage and a symbolic start of the intensive preparation period. On Saturday, February 27, students of XV Liceum Ogólnokształcące in Bydgoszcz's Fordon district organized their ceremony. As reported by „Gazeta Pomorska”, the graduates of the Fordon high school danced the polonaise to close the season. A day earlier, on Friday, February 26, XXX Liceum Ogólnokształcące in Łódź held its ball. Both „Dziennik Łódzki” and „Express Ilustrowany” described the event as the „last prom of 2026 this season”, publishing photo reports from the ball. Both regional dailies used identical titles for their articles, suggesting a shared source of information or a similar editorial approach to covering the local event. The articles are chronicle-like and focus on documenting the ceremonies through photos. They contain no reports of incidents, controversies, or political context. The information is limited to the fact that the ball took place, a description of the traditional element, which is the polonaise, and an indication that the prom season has ended. In the national context, the conclusion of the prom season at the turn of February and March is typical, leaving students about two months for intensive revision before the May exams.