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On the subject of fascinating vacation traditions, Czech Easter offers Christmas a run for its peníze (i.e. cash). From braided willow whips and elaborately painted eggs to inexperienced beer and lamb-shaped desserts, Easter within the Czech Republic is in contrast to something you’ll expertise elsewhere in Europe and there’s no higher option to dive into the tradition than by its meals.

Whether or not you’re visiting Prague over the Easter weekend or just interested by Czech tradition, listed here are 12 fascinating information about Czech Easter traditions.

Easter 2026 within the Czech Republic: Key Dates

• Good Friday (Velký pátek): April 3, 2026 — Public vacation
• Holy Saturday (Bílá sobota): April 4, 2026
• Easter Sunday (Velikonoční neděle): April 5, 2026
• Easter Monday (Velikonoční pondělí): April 6, 2026 — Public vacation and the most important celebration day
• Prague Easter Markets: Usually run from mid-March by Easter week at Previous City Sq. and Wenceslas Sq.

1. Is it Easter… or a celebration of spring?

Velikonoce (Easter) comes from the expression velká noc which means “nice evening” after the day during which Jesus Christ rose from the lifeless. Throughout Communist rule, nonetheless, the non secular celebration was suppressed and the arrival of spring was acknowledged as an alternative. Because the Velvet Revolution and the collapse of Communism in 1989, Easter’s Christian roots have slowly been reestablished, although the vacation remains to be much less overtly non secular than guests may anticipate (no less than within the case within the capital metropolis).

2. Easter Monday trumps Easter Sunday

Whereas Easter Sunday is vital in most Christian international locations, within the Czech Republic, Easter Monday is the principle occasion — and it’s an official public vacation. Easter Sunday is often spent getting ready: girls embellish eggs whereas males put together their pomlázky (braided whips). The true festivities kick off Monday morning.

3. The pomlázka custom: whipping as a spring ritual

Pomlázky are braided whips produced from pussy-willow twigs and embellished with vibrant ribbons. On Easter Monday morning, boys and males historically go home to deal with, gently tapping women and girls with the whip whereas chanting a rhyme — “Hody, hody doprovody, dejte vejce malovaný…” — requesting embellished eggs in return.

The phrase pomlázka comes from the verb pomladit, which means “to make youthful.” The custom is rooted in a pre-Christian fertility ritual: the recent willow symbolizes the power of spring, and being whipped was believed to convey well being, youth, and fertility for the approaching 12 months.

The primary written information of the customized date again to the 14th century, although it’s seemingly a lot older.

It’s price noting that the pomlázka custom is more and more debated within the Czech Republic, particularly in cities. Whereas it stays a part of village life and neighborhood gatherings — the place males go to from home to deal with, stopping for a chat and a drink with every household — many ladies in city areas think about the observe outdated or offensive in its symbolism. The custom is noticeably declining in Prague and different bigger cities, although it’s nonetheless very a lot alive in rural Moravia and Bohemia.

For guests, you’ll see the colorful braided pomlázky on the market at Easter markets all through Prague — they make distinctive souvenirs whether or not or not you propose to make use of them.

4. Embellished eggs are given to the whip bearers!

Adorning Easter eggs (kraslice) is without doubt one of the Czech Republic’s most beloved and broadly practiced traditions. Ladies and women embellish eggs to hold in home windows, show in baskets, or give to the boys who go to on Easter Monday.

The methods vary from easy to breathtakingly intricate: eggs are painted, dyed with onion peel and different pure colors, etched, embellished with beeswax, wrapped in wire, perforated to appear to be delicate lace, or adorned with tiny items of straw. Some strategies are particular to explicit areas and households, handed down by generations. Essentially the most elaborate eggs can take days to finish.

You’ll discover stunning kraslice on the market at meals markets and outlets all through the Czech Republic. In the event you’re taking one dwelling as a memento, wrap it fastidiously — they’re very fragile.

5. Crimson is the symbolic coloration at Easter

Whereas kraslice are available in each color possible at this time, crimson is historically a very powerful Easter color within the Czech Republic. It symbolizes the power of recent life that comes with spring — well being, happiness, and vitality. Some Czechs nonetheless put on crimson at Eastertime to welcome the season.

6. Inexperienced Thursday means inexperienced beer

On Zelený čtvrtek (Inexperienced Thursday), the custom was traditionally to eat solely inexperienced meals — spinach, herbs, nettles, and different spring greens. Czech breweries have taken this a step additional by producing zelené pivo (inexperienced beer) for the event, naturally colored with herbs or younger wheat.

In the event you’re in Prague throughout the Thursday earlier than Easter, you’ll discover inexperienced beer on faucet at many pubs and eating places. It’s develop into one of many extra fulfilling trendy additions to Czech Easter traditions.

7. Lamb is the preferred dish on the Easter menu

Lamb — whether or not precise meat or the candy cake model — is essentially the most acknowledged a part of the Czech Easter desk. The beránek is a candy sponge cake baked in a lamb-shaped mould, usually dusted with powdered sugar. It’s the one most iconic Czech Easter meals.

Past the lamb, the normal Easter unfold consists of:

• Mazanec — a candy yeasted bread made with rum-soaked raisins, almonds, and lemon zest, marked with a cross on prime. It’s the Czech reply to Italy’s colomba or Britain’s scorching cross buns.
• Nádivka — a savoury Easter stuffing made with bread, eggs, nettles, and smoked meat.
• Onerous-boiled eggs — naturally dyed and served alongside the feast.
• Slivovice — do-it-yourself plum brandy, particularly in Moravian households. Not for the faint-hearted.

8. Nádivka is to not be missed! 

Lamb could be the preferred Czech Easter dish, however Nádivka (a “stuffing” dish made with nettles) must be excessive in your checklist of conventional Easter eats!

Ready on Holy Saturday with plenty of eggs, inexperienced herbs, and smoked meat, it was once a part of the meals basket that was taken to church to be blessed. 

The stuffing is a type of tribute to nature, awakening after a protracted, chilly winter. Many wild inexperienced herbs start to develop within the spring, and one particularly herb is in all places. It’s the stinging nettle (kopřiva), usually seen as a weed rising in ditches.

Eva, Consuming Europe Prague’s supervisor, nonetheless has “fond” childhood reminiscences of choosing nettles with out carrying gloves…and whereas some think about that a great way to beat arthritis, she inform us that some safety undoubtedly helps makes the method much less painful! 

However how do you keep away from getting stung by nettles while you cook dinner? Eva will share this tip with you:

“Both steaming (my most popular methodology) or blanching the nettles for one to 2 minutes will take away the sting. Then, take away the nettles from boiling water and place in a bowl of ice water to retain the brilliant inexperienced coloration. Nonetheless, for the much less adventurous, you may as well substitute it with recent child spinach” she laughs!

9. Prague’s Easter Markets are a feast for the senses

Prague’s Easter markets (Velikonoční trhy) are among the many most charming in Central Europe. The most important markets arrange at Previous City Sq. and Wenceslas Sq., usually operating from mid-March by the week after Easter.

Anticipate picket stalls promoting hand-painted eggs, braided pomlázky, handmade crafts, beeswax candles, and conventional puppets. The meals stalls are equally tempting: trdelník (chimney desserts), grilled sausages, langos (fried dough), medovina (honey wine), and naturally Czech beer.

The centrepiece of the Previous City Sq. market is normally a big embellished Easter tree adorned with hand-painted eggs and ribbons. Stay folks music, craft demonstrations (together with egg portray), and performances add to the environment.

Sensible tip: The markets can get crowded on Easter weekend. Go to on a weekday morning for a extra relaxed expertise, or head to the smaller Náměstí Republiky marketplace for fewer crowds.

10. Women get their payback — with chilly water

Right here’s a truth many guests don’t know: in some elements of the Czech Republic, the ladies get their flip. On Easter Tuesday (Úterý), it’s custom for women to go after the boys — usually by dousing them with chilly water. In some villages, women exit with their very own whips. It’s the equalizer to Monday’s pomlázka custom, although it’s practiced much less broadly.

Within the Moravian area, the water-dousing customized is especially well-preserved, and the entire Easter Monday–Tuesday cycle turns into a community-wide social occasion with meals, drink, and loads of laughter.

11. Rattles substitute church bells earlier than Easter

One of many extra atmospheric Czech Easter traditions occurs on Good Friday and Holy Saturday, when church bells throughout the nation fall silent — they’ve symbolically “flown to Rome.” Of their place, boys stroll by villages with picket rattles and clappers (řehtačky), some sufficiently small to be handheld, others mounted on wheelbarrows and loud sufficient to be heard throughout the valley.

The boys make their rounds on the occasions when bells would usually ring, and in return, they obtain small presents or cash. This custom is very well-preserved in smaller cities and the Moravian countryside.

12. Moravia is the place you’ll discover the deepest traditions

Whereas Prague gives stunning Easter markets and a festive environment, essentially the most genuine Czech Easter traditions are discovered within the Moravian area — the southeastern a part of the nation. Villages like these round Slovácko and the White Carpathians nonetheless have fun Easter with folks costumes, neighborhood processions, conventional music, and customs which have been practiced for hundreds of years.

In the event you’re within the Czech Republic over Easter and wish to see traditions at their most real, think about a day journey to Moravia. The mixture of folks tradition, rolling vineyards, and heat hospitality makes it an expertise you gained’t overlook.

Essential non secular websites for Easter pilgrimage embody Holy Mountain in Příbram, the Roman Catholic parish in Velehrad, and the UNESCO-listed Zelená hora close to Žďár nad Sázavou.