Czech celebrations and
holidays
St. Nicholas, Angel and devils
On the eve of 5th December, you will meet a
strange trio -Nicholas, the Angel and the Devil
All three characters walk the streets, stopping
children and asking them if they were good in
the past year.
Children are often terrified of the the Čert
because bad kids would be put into his sack
and taken to hell. After singing a song or
reciting poem to the trio, they are rewarded
with sweets handed out by the Angel.
Christmas
Celebrated in the evening of 24th of
December
The gifts are brought by Ježíšek
Traditional dinner: fish soup, fried carp or
chicken, potato salad
Christmas cookies- the tradition says you
should have at least 7 types
Legend- fast all day and you will see the
golden pig
A lot of people attend the traditional
Midnight mass
The Christmas dinner
Traditional Christmas cookies
Carols
Traditionally sung by children and
adults during the whole of advent
Masopust
The date varies anywhere between the
start of the new year and the start of the 40
day fast before Easter
Everyone wears a mask
Everyone joins the parade and goes from
house to house, where men recive a shot
of “pálenka”(traditional czech homemade
alcohol) and women recieve a doughnut
Every parade has to include these outfits –
a bride and groom, a bear and a horse
Easter
Traditional Easter egg painting
Traditional baking (mazanec, beránek,
nádivka)
On Easter Monday the men should go and
beat the women with a “pomlázka” so they
stay healthy and beautiful for the whole
year and as a thank you they recieve a
painted egg and a shot of alcohol
In some villages the women are thrown into
water instead of being beaten
The men should also sing a traditional
Easter carol before recieving their painted
egg
Pomlázka
Traditional food
Mazanec
Beránek
Painted eggs
Čarodějnice
Celebrated on the night of 30th April
Čarodějnice = witches
People believed the witches are stronger
than usual on that night so they made big
fires on hills to scare them away
Dušičky
Celebrated on 1st and 2nd November
1st of November - Day of all the saints
2nd November - Remembering the
deceased
You should visit the graves of ancestors
and loved ones and light a candle for them,
the graves should be decorated with
flowers