Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Prague Writer's Festival
Salman Rushdie, Susan
Sontag and Elie Wiesel are just
some of the internationally
acclaimed authors who have
attended this annual event. The
organizers often get grief for
giving Czech writers short shrift.
d
Apr
Top 10 National
Holidays
New Year's Day
The day after
Silvestr
is
quiet, after the New Year's
celebrations. d
1 Jan
Easter Monday
Men give their women a
gentle whipping with a willow
switch. Ladies respond with
eggs. d
Mar-Apr
Masopust
Czech swine start getting
nervous in early February as the
nation whets its appetite and
knives for their version of
Carnival. While the beer-and-pork
orgies are more common in
villages than in the big city,
working-class Δi≈kov
(see p116)
throws a large party each year.
d
Shrove Tue
Labour Day
Romantics lay flowers
before the statue of Karel
Hynech Macha on Pet∫ín Hill.
d
1 May
Day of Liberation
Plaques around town are
adorned with flowers to
remember those killed by the
Germans in 1945. d
8 May
Mikulá√, Vánoce, Silvestr
Czech Christmas celebra-
tions are largely devoid of
religion, but the mulled wine
starts flowing on St Nicholas's
Day and doesn't stop until the
Christmas carp is all eaten and
New Year
(Silvestr)
fireworks
arsenals are depleted.
d
Dec
Cyril and
Methodius Day
The Greek missionaries
brought both Christianity and
the Cyrillic alphabet to the
Slavs
(see p39)
.
d
5 Jul
Jan Hus Day
Czechs head for the hills
where they roast sausages
(see p35)
. d
6 Jul
Czech Statehood Day
On St Wenceslas Day, as
most Czechs call it, Bohemia's
history is recalled.
d
28 Sep
Independence Day
On this date in 1918
Czechoslovakia declared itself
independent of Austro-
Hungary.
d
28 Oct
Day of the Fight for
Freedom and
Democracy
The anniversary of the 1989
Velvet Revolution. Candles
and flowers are placed in
various locations.
d
17 Nov
Christmas
Streets fill with carp
sellers and hedonists drinking
mulled wine. d
24-26 Dec
Christmas, Old Town Square
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