Which Czech public holidays can we still experience authentically in their current, dominant forms—those shaped and promoted by the state and its institutions? What role do memory and cultural institutions, schools, churches, the media, or even shopping malls play in them? What do we actually celebrate on public holidays? That we don’t have to go to work? And what if we go anyway? What stories do we tell about ourselves on significant dates?
This series aims to reflect on the social meaning of holidays and to open space for their active, radical, and critical reinterpretation. It offers the public the chance to experience a unique year of HOLI-DAZE: hybrid events, mutated celebrations, and subversive provocations.
Additional Information
We are interested in holidays as performances of statehood and of national and civic identities. As rituals of memory and power. As stagings of values. We focus on ceremonies, customs, and traditions; on the mythology and religiosity of individual holidays; on the history of their establishment and on international comparisons. We want to discuss where social consensus may be possible in 2026—and where it is not. We are interested in how tradition becomes institution, how art can intervene in this process, and for whom holidays exist—and for whom they do not.
We will explore the narratives meant to confirm and shape state and national identity through a powerful tool: public days off. For many holidays, however, their history and negotiated meanings today remain overshadowed by the need for rest from work and buried beneath layers of cultural, political, and market-driven overlays.
Programme
New Year’s Day & Day of the Restoration of the Independent Czech State
Event: 31 December 2025 – 1 January 2026
Easter (Good Friday & Easter Monday)
Event: 29 March 2026 (Palm Sunday)
Labour Day
Event: Friday, 1 May 2026
Victory Day
Event: Friday, 8 May 2026
Saints Cyril and Methodius Day
Event: Sunday, 5 July 2026
Jan Hus Day
Event: Monday, 6 July 2026
Czech Statehood Day
Event: Monday, 28 September 2026
Independent Czechoslovak State Day
Event: Wednesday, 28 October 2026
Struggle for Freedom and Democracy Day
Event: Tuesday, 17 November 2026
Christmas (Christmas Eve, Christmas Day & St Stephen’s Day)
Event: Sunday, 20 December 2026 (Fourth Sunday of Advent)