Maslenitsa is called Masopust in Czech. The translation of this word sounds something like this: fasting from meat. It is celebrated in the last week before the «ash Wednesday» (Popelecni Streda), that is, until the start of the forty-day Easter fast.
The custom of having fun and feasting at the end of winter came to the Czech Republic in the 13th century from Germany (that’s why, for example, in Moravia, instead of «masopust», they say «fashank» — is a name derived from the German Fasching). The tradition has been preserved, first of all, in villages, but has recently been updated in cities. In Prague, for example, since 1933 there has been a carnival in the Zizkov quarter.
The week, full of wild fun, begins with «fat Thursday» («Tucny Ctvrtek»). 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 «knedlik», steamed with dumplings and cabbage. Everything is drunk with hot beer and cream. But the main carnival events start on Saturday.
During the Maslenitsa period, classic, very nutritious dishes are prepared in large quantities. Baked ducks, piglets, jellies, rolls and crumpets, elito and yitrnice. Elito is made from pork and pork blood and served with a stucco, while yitrnitsa — is a sausage made from chopped pork and liver. Chicken with onions, aromatic ovar, soup made from butts, dried ham, baked sausages, fried hermelin cheese, delicious sweets, and this is not the entire Maslenitsa assortment. The symbol of Russian Maslenitsa is – pancakes, 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 always a mask of a bear — of a man who leads a bear on a chain. The bear was supposed to scare young children. You can also see a horse and Jew mask with a bag. Every mummer knows well how to behave: for example, a Jew with a bag loudly swears about gifts and treats offered to mummers, gifts should have seemed small to him, and treats meager.
On Masopusta Sunday, a ball is held (village balls are especially picturesque). Everyone dances and has fun until the morning. In some villages they also organize a ball on Monday, they call it «masculine», which means that only those who are married can dance.
Masopust — is a time when all laws and customs are inactive (of course, with the exception of criminal ones), a time when you can do and say almost everything that would not even occur to a normal person on ordinary days. There are no limits to jokes and jokes!
Masopust ends on Tuesday with a large masquerade procession. Double bass funerals take place in many places — means the balls and fun are over, it’s time to start observing the Easter fast.