Pre-Christmas Preparations in CR 1

Christmas is very popular in the Czech Republic. For many people and especially children it is their favourite holiday. As soon as in October the first Christmas shopping windows appear to attract the shoppers.
However, the real Christmas preparations and shopping usually start in the end of November, at about the beginning of Advent.

Before the first Advent Sunday ( four weeks before Christmas) people buy or make the Advent wreath.
On Sunday the whole family usually gets together – often at the midday meal – and they light the first candle.
Very often there is a charity concert in church and in the evening on the Czech TV there is the first (of four) charity programme.

Since about mid November, especially mums are very busy doing all the cleaning in the house and baking special Christmas cookies. They usually bake nine or even more different kinds of them – often following old family recipes. The traditional Xmas cookies include „little vanilla rolls“ or richly decorated „gingerbread cookies“.

When the house or flat is all cleaned, it is time to decorate it. We hang garlands and other decorations on the doors, hang Christmas lights in the windows and put branches of mistletoe and green spruce or fir branches in vases which brings nice forest smell in our homes.

A new tradition is that on the 1st December small children often get an Advent calendar. Most parents just buy a simple calendar made of paper where behind each of the 24 pictures there is a small window with a tiny candy or chocolate. In some magazines or on the Internet you can find instructions how to make your own Advent calendar e.g from wood or fabric.