Carnival
photo: (toulcovdvur.cz)
Masopust, fashank, ostatky and šibřinky were all feast days in the past, periods when we should eat well, because the forty-day period of lent, which ends on Easter, followed these feast days. In the past Carnival (masopust) began on Epiphany and continued until Ash Wednesday. It culminated in the Masopust (carnival) celebrations linked to a ceremonial masked parade.
Today Masopust consists simply of the carnival festivities, which means only the last few days of the carnival period. Formerly the main entertainment began on Masopust Sunday and continued through to Monday and Tuesday, when a masked parade took place. Today all these festivities are frequently concentrated into one single day and this day is usually Saturday. The masked parade was naturally retained, as it is the chief Masopust “attraction”. However, the masks here are different to those we are familiar with from the famous Venice Carnival. Traditional Masopust masks that you can see in Bohemia and Moravia include bears, billy goats, mares, a rider on a horse, an old woman carrying a basket or a chimney sweep with a ladder.
As well as the masked parade there is also plenty of good food available. Traditional Zabijačka (pig slaughter) food is usually served, for instance white pudding, black pudding, boiled pork, smoked sausages, brawn and crackling are all available.
The Masopust programme also includes dancing, which usually ends at midnight by “burying the beer crate”, a ceremony that used to symbolise the fact that the musicians would not play during the next forty days, the period of lent.