Fat Thursday 2025: When is Tłusty Czwartek, what is it & how do you pronounce it?

Popular around Europe, but particularly in Poland, the celebration is known as Tłusty Czwartek in its native Polish. Translated into English, it simply means Fat Thursday.

With the holiday gaining popularity around the UK, here’s what you need to know about Fat Thursday, from when it is to why and how it is celebrated.

When is Fat Thursday?

This year Fat Thursday is on February 27, 2025.

Traditionally, Tłusty Czwartek takes place on the last Thursday before Ash Wednesday marking the beginning of the period before Lent.

What is Fat Thursday?

Rooted in Catholic tradition, Fat Thursday is essentially a day dedicated to eating as many fatty and sugary foods as possible before Lent begins.

During Lent people often give up something they love such as chocolate or other sweets, and as such Tłusty Czwartek serves a similar function to Shrove Tuesday, or Pancake Day, in the UK.

Pączki and Faworki are the most popular Fat Thursday treats

In Poland, two of the top treats on Fat Thursday are Pączki and Faworki.

Pączki are large fried doughnuts filled with marmalade or rose jam and then glazed with sugar. Pączki means doughnuts, plural, while just one doughnut is called a pączek.

They are the most popular thing to eat during Fat Thursday in Poland, so much so that in 2017 a study found that Poles consumed more than 100 million pączki during the holiday. On average that’s 2.5 per person, with some even believing that you will have bad luck for the rest of the year if you don’t eat at least one.

The second most popular treat on Tłusty Czwartek is Faworki, or Chrusty, meaning Angel’s Wings in English. Slightly lighter than a full doughnut, Faworki are twisted deep fried pastry strips which are then dusted with sugar.

Often also served at carnivals, they are another traditional dish during the holiday.

Tłusty Czwartek pronunciation

We know that in English, Tłusty Czwartek means Fat Thursday - but how do you pronounce it in Polish?

A notoriously difficult language for English-speakers, Tłusty Czwartek is pronounced “twoos-teh chvartek”.

The Polish letter “ł” is pronounced as “w”, the same as in the English word wet. Meanwhile, the letters “cz” together are pronounced as “ch”, the same as in the English word “chain”. Finally, in Polish “w” is pronounced the same as the English letter “v”. You can hear the pronunciation of Tłusty Czwartek, here.

Also wondering how to pronounce pączki and faworki?

Pączki is pronounced as “pownch-key”. In Polish “ą” is pronounced similarly to “on” in the word “wrong”; a nasal “o” sound, and the “cz” as “ch”.

Finally, faworki is pronounced “fav-or-key”. The “w” is said the same as a “v” in English, while “i” is pronounced the same as “e”, the same as in English words like “see”.