Looking to younger generations to keep Dyngus Day thriving

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — 2026 Dyngus Day celebrations filled Michiana the day after Easter, but as less venues host the holiday year after year, some in older generations are looking to those younger to keep the traditions alive.

Hedwig Memorial Center and the South Bend Firefighters Local 362 post were two of the venues hosting big bashes featuring live music, polish food and treats, and the happy, dancing community.

“Dyngus Day is the day after Easter. We celebrate our risen Lord in church, and we celebrate the fact that we can party again after our 40 days of lent,” said Rick Sobczak while celebrating at Hedwig Memorial Center.

Growing up on South Bend’s West Side, Sobczak has danced through decades of Dyngus Day. He said all the clubs used to have celebrations, but many have stopped over time.

“You know even from the standpoint of the bands, it’s very hard to get a Polka band around here now… we used to have 20 Polka bands in South Bend, now there’s not a one, it’s sad,” expressed Sobczak.

He said he’s looking toward people like Andrew Szymanski, a young Dyngus Day celebrator with Catholic and Polish roots, to keep the holiday thriving decades from now.

“I’ve heard these been some kind of renaissance in the religion and young people coming back to church that we haven’t seen and I really, in our services over this Holy Week, we’ve been really impressed with that, so yeah, I hope we can find some way to bring them in, you can see this is mostly an older crowd… The youth are the future as they say,” shared Sobczak.

“Being able to show up, you know, as young adults, it’s something that as time goes on, if we can continue to show up, it would continue to support the small businesses and local businesses that we love,” said Szymanski.