Shrovetide in Czech is called masopust (Masopust). The translation of this word sounds something like this: fasting from meat. It is celebrated on the last week before “Ash Wednesday” (Popelecni Streda), that is, before the beginning of the forty-day Easter fast.
The custom of having fun and feasting at the end of winter came to Bohemia in the 13th century from Germany (that’s why, for example, in Moravia, instead of masopust, they say “fashank” – a name that comes from the German Fasching). The tradition has been preserved, first of all, in the villages, but recently it has been renewed in the cities as well. In Prague, for example, since 1933, a carnival has been held in the Zizkov quarter.
But in 2021, due to the coronavirus pandemic, festival events may be canceled.
A week full of hectic fun begins with “Fat Thursday” (“Tucny Ctvrtek”). On that day, they eat and drink a lot, so that, as they say, they have enough strength for the whole year. The main dish on Fat Thursday is pork with dumplings steamed with dumplings and cabbage. Everything is washed down with hot beer and plum brandy.
During the Shrovetide period, a large number of classic, very nutritious dishes are prepared. Roasted ducks, piglets, jellies, rolls and crumpets, elito and yitrnice. Elito is made from pork and pork blood and served with flat bread, while yitrnice is a sausage made from chopped pork and liver. Tlachenka with onions, aromatic ovar, ass soup, dried ham, baked sausages, fried hermelin cheese, delicious sweets, and this is not the whole assortment of Shrovetide. Pancakes are the symbol of Russian Shrovetide, and masopust is famous for donuts.
At Maslenitsa masquerades, Czechs usually dress up as hunters, brides and grooms, butchers, shopkeepers and other folk characters. Among them there is necessarily a mask of a bear – a man who leads a bear on a chain. The bear was supposed to scare small children. You can see both the mask of a horse and a Jew with a bag. Every mummer knows well how to behave: for example, a Jew with a sack swears loudly about the gifts and treats offered by the mummers, the gifts should have seemed to him small, and the treats meager.
On Sunday masopust a ball is held (village balls are especially picturesque). Everyone is dancing and having fun until the morning. In some villages, a ball is also held on Monday, they call it “man’s”, which means that only those who are married can dance.
Masopust – the time when all laws and customs are inactive (of course, with the exception of criminal ones), the time when you can do and say practically everything that on ordinary days a normal person would not even think of. There is no limit to jokes and jokes!
Masopust ends on Tuesday with a large masquerade procession. In many places, the funeral of the double bass is held, which means that the balls and fun are over, it’s time to start observing the Easter fast.