Christmas Eve in Bohemia
Christmas Eve in Chodsko
On the morning of Christmas Eve, Chod children ran out in the dark to tie up the fruit trees, calling in dialect: “Vovazujte se, štípkové, ajť vám nepomrznou kvítkové!” — bind yourselves, little trees, so your blossom won’t freeze. After the day’s fast came pea or fish soup, černý kuba (barley and mushrooms) and štrůdl.
Before midnight families walked to church, where the organ played bagpipe tunes among the carols — this is the land of the Chod bagpipers — and the village shepherd went round blowing carols under the windows. On Christmas Monday the boys carolled with a fanfrňoch, a friction drum made from an old jug, singing “Předevčírem byl štědrej večer…”
Tie a ribbon or a twist of straw round a tree or a house plant on the morning of the 24th — for blossom and a good harvest.
More Christmas Eves nearby
- Christmas Eve in the Highlands (Horácko)
- Christmas Eve around Hlinsko (Hlinecko)
- Christmas Eve around Plzeň (Plzeňsko)
- Christmas Eve in the Šumava foothills (Pošumaví)
- Christmas Eve in Prácheňsko
- Christmas Eve in Doudlebsko
- Christmas Eve in Blata
- Christmas Eve in Kozácko (Tábor area)
- Czech Christmas Eve, hour by hour