Buchlovice - chateau

Prague, February 2007 Do you still not know where to spend the spring holidays and Easter festivities? Come to the Czech Republic and enjoy the relaxing holiday you desire. At the Easter Fairs you can taste sweet treats and find inspiration for the spring decoration of your home. In the regular museums and open-air museums children will enjoy trying the traditional Easter customs: colouring eggs, plaiting willow whips or decorating gingerbread. Further programmes are up to you alone: you might be among the first visitors to castles and châteaux in the spring season, plan an excursion into the countryside or relax in a Czech spa…

Easter Fairs with inspiring decorations
The largest Easter Fairs take place in the Old Town Square and Wenceslas Square in Prague (www.prague-info.cz). From March 24 until April 15 an Easter village will spring up on Old Town Square with 16 little house shops, and on Wenceslas Square there will be 60 of these. The joyful atmosphere of the market will be enhanced by decorated birch trees, the colourful decoration of the stalls and the interesting cultural programme. In the markets it will be possible to purchase decorations that will bring spring into your home or inspire you to create your own. You can admire the skill and fantasy applied in the painting of Easter eggs, but the plaiting of the willow whips (pomlázky) is something you can do yourselves: all you need is dexterous hands and willow wands. Demonstrations of Easter customs and the welcoming of the spring festivities can also be experienced in other Czech towns – for instance in Telč from March 31 until April 1, 2007 (www.telc-etc.cz), in Kroměříž (www.mesto-kromeriz.cz) March 31, 2007 or in Uherské Hradiště April 7, 2007 (www.uherske-hradiste.cz).

Easter in open-air museums
Are you interested not only in the present form of Easter, but also how it was celebrated in the past? Open-air museums and other museums in the Czech Republic are preparing themed programs for you where you can try out some of the old customs for yourself. In the Museum of Folk Architecture in Zubrnice  they will be demonstrating various methods of decorating Easter eggs (with straw, by scraping and with batik) from March 31 until April 1, 2007 and you can also visit an exhibition of these. Easter in the area of Valašsko will be celebrated April 7-9, 2007 in the Valašsko Open-air Museum in Rožnov pod Radhoštěm. Easter in a miner's cottage is recalled in the Mining Museum in Příbram  from March 26 to April 9, 2007. During these days there will be an exhibition of Easter eggs, willow whips and Easter baking. The Easter events in the Technical Museum in Brno (www.technicalmuseum.cz) also promise interesting experiences.

Easter concerts
The spiritual aspect of Easter is recalled by masses held in churches all over the country and by concerts of spiritual music. The Easter concerts in the Prague Basilica of St James (www.auditeorganum.cz) can be heard this year always at 5 p.m. during the two weeks (April 1-15). You can look forward to classical music (Handel, Bach) and also to the appearances of the Rožmberk Band, which will play the music of compositions from Czech and European hymnbooks. The offer of Prague Easter concerts is further expanded by an invitation on April 5, 2007 to the Convent of St Agnes of Bohemia (www.fok.cz) or a day later to the Estates Theatre. In this period there will also be concerts of classical music organised by the Czech Philharmonic in the Dvořák Hall in the Rudolfinum (www.ceskafilharmonie.cz).
The 16th year is being celebrated by the Easter Festival of Spiritual Music (www.mhf-brno.cz) that will take place April 1–15, 2007 in the Cathedral of SS Peter and Paul in Brno, the largest city of Moravia.. At six concerts there will be heard such pieces as Dvořák's Stabat mater, Handel's Messiah or Schubert's Mass in A major.
Enjoy a festive Easter concert (April 8) in one of the most beautiful towns of Bohemia on in Český Krumlov (www.ckrumlov.cz).

Spring festivities in castles and châteaux
After the winter the castles and châteaux also awaken and open to the public once again, usually in March or April. You are also invited to Easter markets (March 31 – April 1) at Sychrov Château (www.zamek-sychrov.cz), where there will also be an Easter concert on April 8. The charming château at Buchlovice (www.zamek-buchlovice.cz) in southeast Moravia welcomes visitors with special floral decorations on the weekend of April 7–9, 2007. The splendid Castle of Křivoklát (www.krivoklat.cz) will be the scene of an Easter Fair (April 7–9, 2007) that will also include music and dramatic performances. You can admire an exhibition of Easter eggs at Helfštýn Castle (www.helstyn.cz) March 31– April 22, 2007 and Easter at the Castle with an Easter Fair, theatrical and musical performances can be visited at the Silesia-Ostrava Castle in Ostrava  from March 31 until April 1, 2007. The welcoming of spring and also the start of the boating season on the branches of the Dyje River can be experienced in the Lednice Château Park on April 7, 2007.

Unusual ways to ensure women's beauty for the whole year
Easter is usually a joyful time, but some Czech girls and women don’t look forward much to Easter Monday. This is the day when the boys come to visit them with the "pomlázka" or plaited willow whip and whip them symbolically. The aim of this short and usually also quite painless procedure is not to harm the women, but to ensure them health and beauty for the coming year. The boys are not punished for this, but rewarded with coloured eggs or sweets.
Another way for men to ensure the beauty of their beloved for a further 365 days is to kiss them beneath a flowering cherry tree on May 1, the day of those who are in love.
There is yet another tradition connected with spring and love that is still alive in Moravian Slovakia. On the eve of May 1 the young single men set up a May Tree or májka (a tree stripped of branches and decorated with flowers and streamers), which is also a symbol of spring. You can see the setting up of the májka, accompanied by music and dancing, on April 30 in Kyjov (http://spssk.cz).

Easter with traditional goodies
For Easter there are also traditional goodies that you can try both at the Easter markets and in cake shops or restaurants. Try the sponge beránek (lamb) with a coating of sugar or chocolate, mazance (Easter buns) of yeast dough, Easter gingerbread, jidáše (Judas rolls, which resemble a rope in shape) or fried boží milosti (God's Grace) coated in sugar.
Spring in the Zoo and Botanic Gardens
The exhibition Easter Yesterday and Today (April 1–9, 2007) traditionally opens the season in the Botanic Gardens in Prague (www.botanicka.cz). At the exhibition you will be able to peek into the kitchens of our grandmothers, but you will also be advised on how to decorate your home with spring flowers and how to prepare the festive table. From the Botanic Gardens it is only a step to the Prague Zoo (www.zoopraha.cz) where you will be welcomed on 9 April by an Easter Fair with competitions and talks about spring. Don’t forget that all zoos celebrate Bird Day on 1 April. In Jihlava (www.zoojihlava.cz) there will be an entertaining programme with a bird theme and in Brno Zoo (www.zoobrno.cz) all those whose surnames are the names of birds enter free of charge.

Spring relaxation in Czech spas
Perhaps you feel that after the long winter you need to pamper yourselves and recharge your batteries. Where can you do this better than in a spa? In Mariánské Lázně (www.marienbad.cz) or in the spa of Poděbrady (www.lazne-podebrady.cz) you can also celebrate Czech Easter (from April 5/6-9). You will not miss out on demonstrations of arts and crafts, the painting of Easter eggs or a happy Easter party.

A great event both for spa guests and the public is the annual ceremony of the opening of the springs in the spa towns. In the spa of Luhačovice (www.luhacovice.cz) on the second weekend in May (May 11–13, 2007) you will be transported to the peaceful atmosphere of the beginning of the last century, evoked by swing music and guests in period costumes. The three-day programme culminates in the opening of the springs on Sunday – the festively decorated springs are symbolically opened for a further spa season at a folkloric-church ceremony. You should also not miss the festive opening of the season in Karlovy Vary (www.karlovyvary.cz) May 4–6, 2007, in Mariánské Lázně (www.marianskelazne.cz) May 11–13, 2007, in Teplice nad Bečvou (www.ltnb.cz) May 12, 2007 or in the spa of Jeseník (www.jesenik.org) from April 30 until May 1, 2007.

Spring nature walks
A walk through the awakening spring countryside refreshes both body and mind and children in particular will be grateful if you take them on an outing on the first warm days. Set off for the mysterious rock towns of Český ráj (www.bohemian-paradise.info), České Švýcarsko (Czech Switzerland - www.ceskesvycarsko.cz) and the Adršpašsko-teplické Rocks (www.skalyadrspach.cz). The unusual landscape of the Bohemian Paradise is also the scene of the legendary walk In the Footsteps of Rumcajs on March 31, 2007 (www.mujicin.cz).