Holidays, festivals, celebrations
In the Czech Republic we have three different kinds of celebrations. There are public holidays, religious holidays and family celebrations.
I think the most popular holidays are Christmas and Easter. In the Czech Republic we celebrate Christmas on the 24th December in honour of the birth of Jesus Christ. We start to prepare for Christmas four weeks before Christmas Eve. This period of time is called Advent. Children have a special calendar called a Christmas Calendar. It is usually made out of paper and it has twenty four windows. Every day the children open one of them to find a picture and a piece of chocolate.
During the time of Advent women are very busy cleaning the house, cooking and baking Christmas cookies and cakes.
It has become a tradition to have a Christmas tree. It is usually a spruce tree, but it can also be a pine or a fir tree. The whole family decorates the tree with gingerbread and Christmas ornaments. According to tradition those who abstain from eating meat on the day of Christmas Eve will see the “golden pig” later in the evening as a reward.
Christmas dinner starts around 6 p.m. We usually have fish soup and deep fried carp with potato salad. The meal is followed by cookies. The best part of the day comes after dinner: opening the presents. Children wait to hear a ringing bell signal from the „Infant Jesus“.
Some people have a tradition of going to church for midnight mass.
After the Christmas Eve we usually spend the rest of the Christmas holiday visiting our friends and relatives.
In Great Britain there is the Christmas Day on 25th December. The children find their presents from Santa Claus under the Christmas tree in the morning. Many families attend the church. Christmas dinner consists traditionally of a roast turkey, goose or chicken with stuffing and roast potatoes. Mince pies and Christmas pudding, which might contain coins, follow this. This pudding is usually prepared weeks beforehand.
Many Christmas customs which originated in Britain have been adopted in the United States and Canada.
Another celebration during this same time of year is that of St. Nicholas held on 6th December. St. Nicholas, angels and devils walk from house to house on the evening before St. Nicholas Day and give presents to the children who have behaved well. Parents warn their children throughout the year that if they misbehave, they will be taken away by the devil on St. Nicholas day.
The second most celebrated religious holiday is Easter which we celebrate in early spring. On Easter Monday all men and boys go from house to house and whip the women with a stick made of woven willows. The women in return give them decorated eggs or ribbons.
In the Czech Republic we celebrate many public holidays: New Year´s Eve. We call it Silvester and we celebrate the beginning of the new year. Everyone enjoys the last hours of the year. At midnight people drink champagne and toast for happiness and prosperity in the new year, hoping that it will be better than the previous year. Many people make New Year´s resolutions promising themselves to give up bad habits in the following year.
The 1st of January is called the New Year´s Day. On 1st May we celebrate a holiday of working. The 8th of May is the day of the liberation of Czechoslovakia from the Nazis and marks the end of the Second World War. The 5th of July is the day of St. Cyril and St. Method who came from Byzantia to teach the people of Great Moravia how to read and write.
Master Jan Hus, a Catholic preacher of the commons was burned to death at the stake as
a heretic on 6th July 1415. The day of the rise an independent Czechoslovakia in 1918 we celebrate on 28th October. The day of our ancestors is on 2nd November. This day is dedicated to honouring deceased family members. We go to the cemetery to place flowers and candles on their graves.
We also have a couple of special celebrations. There is the 14th of February which is the day of St. Valentine, honouring love and lovers. Symbols of love, such as chocolate hearts and flowers, are exchanged by lovers.
On the 1st of April, in Great Britain known as the Fool´s day, people are allowed to make jokes and trick to others.
In Great Britain and in the USA there are many public holidays, too. For example Mother´s Day, Father´s Day, Independence Day, Halloween or All Saints Day.
The Independence Day is celebrated in the USA on 4th July when the Declaration of Independence was signed.
On the 31st of October Children dress up and go to neighbours for sweets, trick or treat. This holiday is called Halloween and is celebrated in Great Britain and in the USA, too.