CZECH CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS
Easter takes place on the first Monday after the spring fullmoon in March or April. People celebrate easter to remind the Resurrection of Christ. In the Czech Republic boys prepare plaited willow canes and on easter Monday they go from house to house and whip girls, using rattles as music. As a treat they get an egg, money, a drink or a ribbon.
On my cottage men and boys go together in one huge group and it is happening already on Sunday.
Christmas are always in winter on 24th of December. People celebrate them to remind themselves that Jesus was born. Symbols of Christmas are carols, decorated tree and house (indoor and outdoor decoration) or for example nativity scene. People decorate trees, sing carols or watch fairytails and drink hot wine. Before Christmas, shopping malls are crowded by people who want to buy the best presents for their friends and families.
I think that the most important about Christmas is to be together with your close friends and the people you love.
May day is on 1st of May. People put a tall1) maypole2) in the centre of the town (or village) decorated with colourfull ribbons and flowers. There are carnival processions through the street. The point of this event is that a woman should be kissed under a cherrytree to be still fresh, young and beautifull.
I think that Czech May day can be compared to English Valentine´s day, but in my opinion the Valentine´s day is more commercial than the Czech tradition.
April fool´day is a very curious feast it´s celebrated on 1st of April and on that day
you are allowed to pull jokes and pranks.
New year´s eve is celebrated on 31st of December to close the old year and welcome the new one. Everybody spends this event in a diferent way. Somebody drinks alcohol, with lots of people or alone, they dance, sing or watch TV or they travel abroad or to the mountains.
I prefer to be with my friends and it doesn´t matter where we are.
In my family, we celebrate many holidays – birthdays, weddings and namedays. My family is quite large so it is a mirracle if everybody arrives. When it happens there´s always lot of fun, good music , food and drinks. I like these celebrations because I have been used to it since I was a small child, but for other people it could seem quite loud.
1) vztyčují
2)májku