How to Celebrate “New Year’s Eve” Like a Czech

The New Year is celebrated in the Czech Republic similar to traditions we see around the world – with friends, and relatives, at pubs, concerts, and restaurants.

The New Year is greeted with champagne, cheers, and firework shows near city squares. You can watch the countdown on major TV networks and it is traditionally followed by the Czech national anthem.

In the Czech Republic, New Year’s Eve is called Silvestr, for the anniversary of the consecration of Pope Sylvester I, a saint who served as Pope of the Western Church from 314 to 335.

Since the adoption of the Gregorian calendar in 1582, the December 31st feast date has coincided with New Year’s Eve.

Czechs often gather around to watch the President’s New Years Speech (1p.m) – where he evaluates the previous year, and announces his predictions and expectations for the coming year.

These days, pork is eaten on New Year’s Day with a side of lentils (čočka) topped with a fried egg (eating anything with wings is also said to make your luck fly away!).

The dish is eaten for prosperity — and it makes for a pretty good hangover cure as well, as celebrations include a healthy share of Pilsner or Bohemia Sekt, the most well-known šampaňské in the Czech Republic and, with a 70-year tradition.

Czech New Year’s table

On the table, you will find the Czech open-faced sandwiches chlebíčky of various kinds, nuts (oříšky), crisps (or chips) brambůrky and other snacks.

Some people still keep the tradition of eating a boiled pork head at midnight with grated horseradish.

Those who are awake at lunchtime should eat lots of lentils (čočka) because in Czech tradition lentils symbolize money. Instead of lentils, some families cook broth – broth with semolina (vývar s krupicí).

New Year’s Eve and Day superstitions

There are certain superstitions connected to New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day in the Czech Republic.

• There must not be any clothes hanging on a clothesline during the last night of the year, otherwise, a member of the family will die next year.
• People are careful about the way they treat each other since they tend to believe that the way New Year’s Day is will determine the rest of the year.
• It is not recommended to eat poultry on New Year’s Day – your luck might fly away from you!
• Pouring lead is also a tradition for looking into the future in the Czech Republic. The custom of cutting an apple in half and reading one’s fate from the shape of the core is even older. If the seeds form a cross, bad things are coming; stars represent luck.

Czechs have a saying on New Year’s Day: “Jak na nový rok, tak po celý rok” which means something like “What you do on New Year’s day, you’ll do every day the next year.”

That means that doing any work whatsoever is said to be bad luck. No cleaning the house or washing the dishes and really whatever you do, if you’re at all superstitious, don’t hang up laundry or you could experience personal unhappiness in the New Year.