Today is pálení čarodějnic in the Czech Republic. It is a holiday for celebrating…witch burning. Whereas in the United States, the only time of the year that we really think about witches, broomsticks, and spooky stories told around campfires is at the end of October with Halloween, in the Czech world on the evening of April 30, people gather together and burn an effigy of a witch in village green, or in a big field. I’ve been told they don’t really do this at the town square, since the other half of this custom is for everybody to drink lots of beer, and fire + beer = not a suitable combination for the village square.
Here are some photos of this custom, which today is mostly about hanging out with and having fun with your friends and neighbors. I wonder if they roast marshmallows over this fire.
In honor of the day, today’s quiz has, you guessed it, a witch in the parish records.
The most typical thing to prepare over an open fire in Czechia is špekáček (https://cs.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Špekáček). I'm sure many are being prepared at this very moment.