Best festivals of Summer 2009

Summer is here again and that means long drinks in shady beer gardens, swimming in the lake outside town, ice cream on the square at dusk and an almost non-stop programme of festivals. Here’s a roundup of the best.

June
Lots of cities and towns have their annual festival on the first weekend of summer; this year from Friday 19th to Sunday 21st of June.
June 18-20 United Islands of Prague
June 19-21 Festival of the Five-Petalled Rose In Český Krumlov, Free entry for those in some approximation of historic costume
June 25-28 Stražnice folklore festival
June 26-27 Prachatice Golden Trail festival The only renaissance festival better than Český Krumlov's festival of the five-petalled rose

July
July is the month for big outdoor music festivals
July 2-5 Zahrada The country's best and biggest festival of Folk and World Music
July 3-4 Creamfields Central Europe
July 3-11 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival
July 4-6 Rock for People with Gogol Bordello, Placebo and Underworld!
July 9-12 Colours of Ostrava This year with David Byrne, Mercury Rev and Morcheeba amongst many, many others.
July 16-19 Boskovice 2009 Music, film and theatre festival in Boskovice's Jewish quarter
July 17-19 Mighty sounds The festival for ska, punk, reggae and hip-hop
July 24-August 2 Uherské Hradiště Film School A film festival with theatre, workshops, seminars and other activities.
July 24-August 9 Prazdniny v Telči festival

August
August 8 Hradhouse Moravian open air electronic music festival
August 14-16 Chodsko Folk Festival, Domažlice is one of Western Bohemia's prettiest towns and the Chods were known for stubbornly preserving their traditions
August 20-22 Hip Hop Kemp
August 20-23 Trutnov Open air music festival-The Woodstock of East Bohemia
August 22 Okoř castle outdoor music festival
August 28-30 Trnkobrání Vízovice, Jelinek distillery
August 29-30 Hefaiston International blacksmiths’ festival in the grounds of a huge ruined castle

September
Most people are back at work, school and uni by September and the festivals start to come back into the cities and towns.
September 11-12 Znojmo Wine festival Harvest festival in the prettiest town of the country’s largest wine region
September 18-20 Mělník Wine festival Harvest festival in the prettiest town of the country’s smallest wine region
September 25 –October 16 Gaudeamus Igitur Student festival travelling to various university cites around the country

Oddsocks' secret swimming spot

I’m going to let you in on a little secret today. This is my favourite place to go swimming.

But we don’t want every man and his dog finding out about it and crowding us out, so let’s just keep it between us, OK? I get the impression a lot of the locals from nearby towns don’t even know about this place. It’s not signposted at all and I doubt that I’d have ever found it if I hadn’t been taken there.

It’s the old rock quarry just outside Výkleky. Výkleky is about 20km from Olomouc if you follow the marked cycle trail, but only 5km from Lipník nad Bečvou if you’re coming from that direction.

The way I like to get there from Olomouc is to pick up the marked cycle trail #5 in one of the parks that ring the old town. The reddish paving is for cyclists and the #5 trail is called the Jantarová stezka/Amber trail because it traces the old trade route that led from the Baltics via Krakow to Prague.

Following the Amber trail takes you through the parks, across the mill stream and over the Morava River. As soon as you cross the river, you need to turn left past the abandoned Russian military barracks. You’ll be following the river valley for the next 8kms.

Be careful in town, there are busy roads to cross. Actually there are busy roads to cross outside town too. It’s not a bad idea to wear a helmet on this trip.

When you get out of Olomouc’s suburbs, the river is behind the trees on your right. In the first village, Bystrovany, you’ll cross the bridge and the river will be behind the trees on your left. At the second village (8km) Velká Bystřice, you’ll leave the river valley and strike out across undulating hills smothered in barley and hops. Other parts of the country are famous for beer making, but top-quality ingredients come from the Hána region that you’re riding through now.

The next landmarks are Vacanovice township and the church tower at Tršice. Tršice is nestled down in a valley and when you first see it, it looks as though a church has sunken into the ground. Enjoy the cruise down into Tršice while it lasts, because you need to climb a hill to get out the other side.

At Tršice, it’s time to say goodbye to the #5 trail. Turn left behind the church to follow the #6058. The climb out of town is wearying, but there’s less than 5km to go and this road will take you right into the township of Výkleky.

There are probably about 50 or 60 houses in Výkleky and when you’ve almost passed through town, the road forks around a big tree. You want to go right. If you’re eagle eyed and understand Czech, you might notice the sign saying “Kamenolom”, which means ‘stone quarry’. If you get really stuck and need to ask directions, “Lom” is the word for quarry and is pronounced just the way it would be in English.

About 100m along this right fork, there’s an unpaved carpark area just off the road. The cars parked here belong to people swimming at the quarry. Once you’re off the road and in the carpark, just follow the main trail. There might be a boom gate across the track, but just go around it like everybody else does. If you’re more than 100m from the road and still haven’t seen the water, you’ve gone the wrong way.

The water in the old quarry is cold and deep. So deep that the emergency services use it for training with their scuba-diving gear. The gentlest way in is along the ramp that the trucks used to drive down to bring out the stone. You’ll no doubt see local teenagers jumping off the rocks. If you think you might want to try that, please jump out as far as you can and be as careful as possible. Somebody gets hurt there every summer.

When you’ve had your fill of the quarry, you can turn around and come back the way you came or continue on into Lipník to catch the train home. If you’re cycling home, you can get food in Tršice and Velká Bystřice and those cherry and apple trees lining the road are fair game.

Happy cycling! Just remember, Výkleky’s our secret.

Festival season is almost here again!

One of the things I like most about living in the Czech Republic is that there's always so much going on. Most of the year, events are focussed on the cities and towns, but in summer Czechs love to be out in 'the nature' and they take their festivals with them. July and August are a non-stop party, but there's something happening on most weekends in May, June and September too.

Here's a roundup of the ones I've most enjoyed or would most like to go to. There are a couple of cross-border ring-ins and some dates haven't been announced yet, but I'll update this post as I find out more.

Hope there's something here for you...

May

• May 7-10 Olomouc Beerfest The Czech Republic's largest beer festival
• May 7-13 Třeboň Animated film festival
• May 12-June 4 Prague Spring
• May 23-25 Ride of the Kings
• May 25-31 Khamoro International Roma cultural festival

June

• June 18-July 5 Smetana’s Litomyšl
• June 19-21 United Islands of Prague
• June 20-22 Festival of the Five-petalled rose In Český Krumlov, Free entry for those in some approximation of historic costume
• June 26-29 Stražnice folklore festival

July

• July 2-5 Zahrada Folk Music festival
• July 3-5 Rock for people with Massive Attack this year!
• July 4-12 Karlovy Vary International film festival
• July 10-13 Colours of Ostrava This year with Sinéad O'Connor and the Happy Mondays
• July 12 Creamfields Central Europe
• July 17-20 Boskovice 2008 Music, film and theatre festival in Boskovice's Jewish quarter
• July 17-19 Pohoda festival Trenčin The Streets, Fat Boy Slim, The Prostitutes.
• July 18-20 Mighty sounds Ska, punk, hip-hop
• July 25-August 10 Prazdniny v Telči festival
• July 28-August 3 Uherské Hradiště Film School Like Karlovy Vary, but without the celebrity glitz.

August

• August 8 Hradhouse
• August 8-10 Chodsko Folk Festival, Domažlice
• August 12-18 Sziget festival All the way down in Hungary, but it appears that REM, the Kaiser Chiefs, and the Sex Pistols will play. Yep those Sex Pistols.
• August 15-17 Vízovice Trnkobrání, Jelinek distillery
• Dates TBA Trutnov Open air music festival-The Woodstock of East Bohemia
• August 22 Machač on the shores of Macha’s lake (Machovo Jezero)
• August 23 Okoř castle outdoor music festival
• August 24-26 Hip Hop Kemp
• August 27-31 Fresh Film fest Festival of student films
• August 30-31 Hefaiston International blacksmiths’ festival at a ruined castle

September

• September 12-13 Znojmo Wine festival
• September 13-14 Rožnov Fujara festival The Fujara's a traditional wind instrument, usually associated with the shepherds of the Tatra Mountains
• September 19-21 Mělník Wine festival
• Late September–late October Gaudeamus Igitur Student festival that travels the country

Babi Leto

The weather for most of September so far has been miserable. This weekend, though, an early taste of Babi Leto arrived.

Babi Leto means something like ‘Grannies’ summer’, and is so named because of the long, white strands of spiderwebby stuff that float through the air at this time of year. They might look like spiderwebs to some, but to the people who make up nicknames they apparently look like Grandmothers’ hair. In any case it's the year's last gasp of summery weather before the leaves drop, the winds blow up and people start dusting off their skis and skates.

Autumn’s my favourite season here; the days are still long, the crowds of summer tourists have gone home, things like the theatre, the jazz club and the cultural events at the university have all started up again. On sunny days people are out strolling, walking their dogs, collecting chestnuts in the park, hunting mushrooms in the forest and just enjoying the crisp, clear sunshiney days.

I think I’ll go for a bike ride through the park before I have to start work. Want to come along…?

Three days, five festivals.

Here's a photo from Ječmínek's Kingdom-the Festival of Puppetry and Street theatre, underway in Olomouc until tomorrow (Sat 25th). There have been performances at three venues, including the main square. Everything is free, including concerts by Čankisou, the Děda Mládek Illegal Band and tomorrow night, Lokopala, from Portugal.

This weekend is amazingly busy in Central Moravia, festival-wise. Helfštýn castle is hosting Hefaiston; the annual international festival of artistic blacksmithing, Bouzov castle is expecting around twenty hot-air balloons for their annual festival, Sovinec is hosting a martial arts weekend and the annual Slavnosti is on at Náměst na Háne. Phew!

Kojetín Fair

Kojetín’s annual fair took place this weekend. It was a colourful outburst of regional costume, food, drink, traditional music and dancing; all under the blazing summer sun.

Kojetín is one of the few remaining villages that uphold the centuries-old tradition of the Ride of the Kings. An earlier post on this blog talks about the big, famous ride of the kings at Vlcnov, but the one at Kojetín this weekend was a much smaller and more local affair. It also has a peculiar central Moravian twist, in that it has evolved to represent the story of Ječmínek (King Barleycorn), the mythical figure connected with the nearby chateau at Chropyně.

The ride was one of the first events of the day, winding its way through the streets of Kojetín, the king accompanied here by women in men’s clothing. The ride is followed by performances of the traditional song and dance on a wooden stage erected for the purpose. Some of the younger performers were typically shy and off-key, but as most of the crowd was probably related to one of the kids in some way or other, nobody was really bothered, and there were plenty of proud parents filling up their video recorders in front of the stage.

The bulk of the crowd didn’t seem too bothered what was or wasn’t on stage. The dozens of benches and tables were are full, plenty of beer was being drunk and I had the impression that people were happy to be out in the sunshine with their friends and neighbours, enjoying one of the last lazy summer weekends before the hard work of the autumn harvest.

Even the one odd character that spent the day waving a black flag (and pushing his barrow about how he was living in an unjust state and had been badly treated by corrupt courts) seemed to be having a fairly pleasant time. Incidentally nobody was very surprised or bothered that this fellow was around, so I’d hazard a guess that he’s a regular feature of Kojetín’s Masaryk square.

The food was typical festival fare, thick boiled sausages, potato pancakes, Turkish honey, popcorn and fairy floss. Despite the burčak (something between grape cider and extremely young wine) being early this year, the Kojetíners were all sticking with beer. Perhaps it was loyalty to the high-quality hops that come from this richly agricultural region, but more likely it’s just a beer kind of town more than it’s a wine kind of town.

Whichever tipple you prefer, Kojetín is a pleasant and honest little place to visit, especially if you can catch it on the weekend of the fair. If you’re around this way next year, maybe I’ll see you there?

The Garlic Festival

The garlic festival at Buchlovice has been intriguing me for a couple of years now, and this year I finally had a chance to attend.

The festival takes place annually on the grounds of the Buchlovice chateau and celebrates garlic and all things connected with it. With events like the singing of the garlic hymn and the drinking of garlic milk (to synchronize breath), Mr Quinky and I felt that we had to investigate.

Having arrived early we spent some time exploring the grounds of the chateau, which were a mix of beautifully manicured formal gardens and quite informal parkland. The chateau itself is also a wonderful example of a small baroque chateau. We decided against taking a tour but did have the chance to peek into the huge commercial wine cellar, which had detailed descriptions of the many different varieties on offer and an expert on hand to help with your choices.

The events of the garlic festival were taking place at the bottom of the garden and began with the singing of the hymn and the drinking of garlic milk, which was a yoghurt-like drink strongly flavoured with you-know-what.

As well as having a humourous side, there were also quite few serious stalls selling different products including that of the aristocrat of garlic, selling different varieties in bulk. A bakery stall offered garlic pastries for free, and garlic toast, garlic potato pancakes, garlic wreathes and sheathes of garlic were all available for purchase. There was also plenty of special garlic-free beer being consumed.

Perhaps it was just the heat of the day and the fact that so much was packed into such a small space, but it soon seemed that the serious side of the festival was outweighing the humorous, and we decided to shorten our visit a little, even though it meant missing out on the garlic race and the crowning of Miss Garlic. Oh well, there’s always next year.

Beating the heat

Not everybody avoided the heat by heading for the lake. Both of these alternate methods were spotted on the sweltering main square of Olomouc.
u

The Lake

Early July was really hot in the Czech Republic. Temperature records were broken right across the country and it even got close to 40*C in the shade in a couple of places. Thank goodness for the lake.

There seems to be a bit of a fondness here for naming places after other places. Czech Switzerland and Czech Canada are two notable ones that spring to mind, and even if somewhere is not officially named after somewhere else, it might sport a nickname like the 'Venice of Hána' (Litovel) or the 'Athens of Hána' (Kroměříž). Monikers like this are meant quite earnestly, but the irreverent Czech sense of humour finds it way into lots of others. Right across the country there are patches of wasteland called ‘Siberia’, and any isolated lagoon suitable for smoking dope and nude sunbathing is called ‘Amerika’.

What does all this have to do with the heat? Well, we swim at Poděbrady. Not the 800-year-old spa town with the chateau beside the mighty Labe River; this Poděbrady is a disused gravel quarry filled with fresh water from a narrow arm of the Morava river.

It mightn’t be the greatest Poděbrady, but it’s our Poděbrady. It’s only about five kilometres from town, so we usually cycle. The trip is simple, cross a couple of streets, cut past the aeroplane bar, through the football stadium carpark and then we’re at the mill channel, which is followed by a dedicated cycle trail the whole way to the lake.

The lake is shallow and sandy and you can still see your feet when you’re standing chest deep, which, having grown up beside the Murray River in Australia, I think is a reasonable measure of clearness for fresh water. We usually swim from the island, which seems to be the preferred place of a lot of people. Since the beer caravan, however, was relocated from the island over to the eastern shore, that part of the lake has steadily become more popular with lots of swimmers.

Soon they’ll be calling it "Plzeň".