The Embassy of the Czech Republic hosted its annual Christmas Festival on Saturday, Nov. 8. Located on Freedom Street in Northwest D.C., the festival featured food, activities, music and vendors gathered to share holiday traditions and Czech culture.
Visitors were greeted upon entrance by the sound of musicians performing a live concert that mixed traditional Christmas songs — including Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” — with Czech carols sung in the native language. These sporadic performances created the perfect soundtrack as attendees walked among dozens of vendors.
Vashek Cinadr told The Eagle that his Christmas ornament business thrives at the festival.
“Everything is popular,” he said. “What you see here, this is the largest selection of Czech and Slovak ornaments in the United States. Nobody else has something that is bigger.”
Cinadr and his family, originally from Prague, have lived in the United States for 40 years and travel back to the Czech Republic and Slovenia 32 times a year to source their ornaments. They have been coming to the festival for 16 years and also sell their ornaments at three more Christmas markets in, as he said, “the great state of Wisconsin.”
Food was another draw at the festival. One family-run stand sold cookies as well as traditional Czech Christmas ornaments. Originally from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, these vendors had a magnificent display of ornaments made from the shells of walnuts and a variety of cookies laid out for attendees to browse. The walnut ornaments are sourced from the Czech Republic and all of them are hand made.
Tradition was a recurring theme throughout the day. Tereza Janakova, from Hradec Králové, Czech Republic, was attending the event and said tradition is central to Czech culture.
“For example, the Christmas cookies,” she said. “My family would bake five to six different kinds of cookies and then exchange them. Each family has their own traditional recipes that they pass on from generation to generation. I think that's amazing.”
Beyond the vendors, food and music, festival-goers could climb a set of concrete stairs to a hilltop where sheep, goats and alpacas — part of a longtime family business — were available for petting and feeding.
Sisters Laura and Olivia Dutton, from Fredrick, Maryland, have been coming to the festival with their family business for 25 years. They use the wool from their animals, dye it themselves and work as a team to craft the items they sell.
“I think this is just a lovely event,” Laura told The Eagle. “I really like to see this great mix of cultures. This is such a unique once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
Given that the event was a family affair, the embassy also hosted a puppet theater for children.
“I really love the puppet theater show,” Janakova said. “They came here all the way from Pilsen. They have over 60 years of history and they just won the Thalia Prize for outstanding contribution to Czech performing arts.”
Another unique vendor was selling traditional handmade bronze bells. This small business was founded in 1950, and uses bronze straight from the Czech Republic. Another recurring theme for a lot of the vendors that ensured the authenticity of the goods sold to the public. These bells are another Czech Christmas tradition highlighted in the market and showcased to the D.C. public.
The BellsDytrych business has also found success in selling the bells in different American cities, on their online Etsy shop and in the Czech Republic.
Culture, creativity, tradition and community defined the annual celebration, giving D.C. residents a vibrant introduction to Czech Christmas customs.
“I’m hoping to bring the Christmas spirit from the Czech Republic here, but also to make people even more interested in the culture, in our land, and to travel abroad,” Janakova said.
This article was edited by Sydney Hemmer, Jessica Ackerman and Walker Whalen. Copy editing done by Sabine Kanter-Huchting, Arin Burrell, Paige Caron, Andrew Kummeth and Ryan Sieve.
