Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia weren’t spared the Witch Trials happening in Europe for almost four centuries. According to the research by the Masaryk university, hundreds of men and women were subjected to these trials in what is now the Czech Republic.
Majáles is the celebration of May and student life with a surprisingly long history.
The Ride of the Kings (Jízda králů in Czech) is a festival celebrated in Moravia. you’ll know it when you see a young boy in female folkloric clothes and a rose in his mouth riding a decorated horse.
In the socialist era (from the late 1940s to the Velvet Revolution) it was believed that the Colorado Potato Beetle, or Mandelinka bramborová in Czech, was being dropped by “American Imperialists” to help destroy the Czechoslovak agriculture and shatter the regime.
Easter Lamb is a sweet pastry baked in the Czech Republic at Easter.
Jidáše is Czech pastry soaked in honey and traditionally baked at Easter.
Palm Sunday or Květná neděle (“Blossom/Bloom Sunday” in Czech) is a Christian feast commemorating Christ’s entry into Jerusalem but in Czech folklore, it’s a day full of protective magic.
If you wanted to get foreign goods not accessible in Czechoslovakia during the socialist era, the one place to go was Tuzex. If you had the right currency, that is.
Čepení is a traditional wedding head-dressing ritual during which the bride’s flower crown is replaced by a cap or a scarf. It is also the name of the crown itself.
Colorful and quiet, the Czech traditions in March are very varied and symbolic of the change of seasons.