May Day is a European festival of ancient origins marking the beginning of summer, usually celebrated on 1 May, around halfway between the spring equinox and summer solstice. Festivities may also be held the night before, known as May Eve. Traditions often include gathering wildflowers and green branches, weaving floral garlands, crowning a May Queen, and setting up a Maypole, May Tree or May Bush, around which people dance. Bonfires are also part of the festival in some regions. Regional varieties and related traditions include Walpurgis Night in central and northern Europe, the Gaelic festival Beltane, the Welsh festival Calan Mai, and May devotions to the Blessed Virgin Mary. It has also been associated with the ancient Roman festival Floralia.
Carnival is a Catholic festive season that occurs before the liturgical season of Lent. The main events typically occur during February or early March, during the period historically known as Shrovetide. Carnival typically involves public celebrations, including events such as parades, public street parties and other entertainments, combining some elements of a circus. Elaborate costumes and masks allow people to set aside their everyday individuality and experience a heightened sense of social unity. Participants often indulge in excessive consumption of alcohol, meat, and other foods that will be forgone during upcoming Lent. Traditionally, butter, milk, and other animal products were not consumed "excessively", rather, their stock was fully consumed as to reduce waste. This festival is known for being a time of great indulgence before Lent, with drinking, overeating, and various other activities of indulgence being performed. For example, Pancakes, donuts, and other desserts are prepared and eaten for a final time. During Lent, animal products are eaten less, and individuals have the ability to make a Lenten sacrifice, thus giving up a certain object or activity of desire.
Lughnasadh or Lughnasa is a Gaelic festival marking the beginning of the harvest season. Historically, it was widely observed throughout Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man. In Modern Irish it is called Lúnasa, in Scottish Gaelic: Lùnastal, and in Manx: Luanistyn. Traditionally it is held on 1 August, or about halfway between the summer solstice and autumn equinox. In recent centuries some of the celebrations have been shifted to the Sunday nearest this date.
A maypole is a tall wooden pole erected as a part of various European folk festivals, around which a maypole dance often takes place.
Walpurgis Night, an abbreviation of Saint Walpurgis Night, also known as Saint Walpurga's Eve, is the eve of the Christian feast day of Saint Walpurga, an 8th-century abbess in Francia, and is celebrated on the night of 30 April and the day of 1 May. This feast commemorates the canonization of Saint Walpurga and the movement of her relics to Eichstätt, both of which occurred on 1 May 870.
Midsummer is a celebration of the season of summer usually held at a date around the summer solstice. It has pagan pre-Christian roots in Europe.
A patronal feast or patronal festival is a yearly celebration dedicated, in countries influenced by Christianity, to the "heavenly advocate" or "patron" of the location holding the festival, who is a saint or virgin. The day of this celebration is called patronal feast day, patronal day or patron day of said location.
In the British Isles and parts of the Commonwealth, the May Queen or Queen of May is a personification of the May Day holiday, and of springtime and also summer. The May Queen is a girl who rides or walks at the front of a parade for May Day celebrations. She wears a white gown to symbolise purity and usually a tiara or crown. Her duty is to begin the May Day celebrations. She is generally crowned by flowers and makes a speech before the dancing begins. Certain age-groups dance around a Maypole celebrating youth and springtime.
Královské Vinohrady is a cadastral district in Prague. It is so named because the area was once covered in vineyards dating from the 14th century. Vinohrady lies in the municipal and administrative districts of Prague 2, Prague 3 and Prague 10, little parts also of Prague 1 and Prague 4.
Wine in the Czech Republic is produced mainly in southern Moravia, although a few vineyards are located in Bohemia. However, Moravia accounts for around 96% of the country's vineyards, which is why Czech wine is more often referred to as Moravian wine. Production centers on local grape varieties, but there has been an increase in the production of established international strains such as Cabernet Sauvignon.
Ickwell May Day is a celebration of spring held at Ickwell in the parish of Northill. The earliest documented Ickwell May Day festivities were in 1565. By then it had become a Christian festival, though its origins likely pre-date Christianity to the pagan Beltane festivals. In 1872 the squire of the town erected a permanent Maypole and left a bequest in his will to fund the annual celebration.
Czech Americans, known in the 19th and early 20th century as Bohemian Americans, are citizens of the United States whose ancestry is wholly or partly originate from the Czech lands, a term which refers to the majority of the traditional lands of the Bohemian Crown, namely Bohemia, Moravia and Czech Silesia. These lands over time have been governed by a variety of states, including the Kingdom of Bohemia, the Austrian Empire, Czechoslovakia, and the Czech Republic also known by its short-form name, Czechia. Germans from the Czech lands who emigrated to the United States are usually identified as German Americans, or, more specifically, as Americans of German Bohemian descent. According to the 2000 US census, there are 1,262,527 Americans of full or partial Czech descent, in addition to 441,403 persons who list their ancestry as Czechoslovak. Historical information about Czechs in America is available thanks to people such as Mila Rechcigl.
Velké Bílovice is a town in Břeclav District in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 3,800 inhabitants. It is known for viticulture.
Moravian traditional music or Moravian folk music represents a part of the European musical culture connected with the Moravian region of the Czech Republic. Styles of Moravian traditional music vary by location and subject, but much of it is characterized by a specific melodic and harmonic texture related to the Eastern European musical world. According to Czech musicologist Jiří Plocek, Moravia is the area where the European East musically meets the West.
Nová Ves u Nového Města na Moravě is a municipality and village in Žďár nad Sázavou District in the Vysočina Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 700 inhabitants.
Espita is a town in Espita Municipality, Yucatan (Mexico) located on the Litoral Oriente or Region I of Yucatan. It has an average height of 27 meters and is located at a distance of 165 km from the Merida City, 80 km from Izamal, 58 km from Chichen Itza, 49 km from Valladolid, 35 km from Ek' Balam and 27 km from Tizimín.
Horňácko is an ethnographic microregion situated in the Hodonín District, South Eastern Moravia, Czech Republic. The region is home to approximately 10,000 people. It is significant for its traditional folk culture, especially the folk music. The region hosts annually the Horňácko Folk Festival.
The Kundum festival is celebrated by the Ahanta or Nzema people of the Western region of Ghana. It is celebrated to thank God for the abundance of food at the time of the harvest period of the area.
Czech folklore is the folk tradition which has developed among the Czech people over a number of centuries. Czech folklore was influenced by a mix of Christian and pagan customs. Nowadays it is preserved and kept alive by various folklore ensembles uniting members of all ages, from children to seniors, showing their talent during competitions, folklore festivals or other performances.
Slavic carnivals are known under different names in various Slavic countries: Macedonian: Прочка, romanized: Pročka; Bulgarian: Сирни заговезни, Прошка, Поклади, romanized: Sirni zagovezni, Proshka, Pokladi; Russian: Масленица, Мясопуст, romanized: Maslenitsa, Myasopust; Polish: Ostatki, Mięsopust, Zapusty; Czech: Masopust, Šibřinky, Ostatky; Slovak: Fašiangy; Slovene: Mesopȗst, Pust, Pustni teden, Fašnk; Serbian: Покладе, Проћка / Poklade, Proćka; Croatian: Pust, Poklade, Mesopust, Fašnik. They are traditional Slavic festivals related to the period of carnival.
