The small sleepy village of Vlčnov in Slovačko in southeastern Moravia comes alive on each last Sunday in May to celebrate the famous folk festival of the Ride of the Kings. Traditional crafts are for sale, local foods for consumption, and slivovice (plum brandy) to be drunk for the crowds who flock to the village to watch the parade and enjoy the singing, dancing and music performed by people dressed in spectacular traditional Moravian costumes.
The festival, now protected by UNESCO symbolizes the survival of Czech traditions for a country that was in danger of losing much of its Czech character after the Thirty Years War. For this reason, the festival formed an important part of the ethnographic exhibition of 1895 in Prague as part of the national reawakening. The actual origins of the festival are lost in time; some attribute the festival to the rituals associated with Easter and pagan celebrations of Spring. For centuries, the festival was an important part of the Whitsuntide/Pentecost observances. Indeed, the Sunday mass remains a highlight of the festival’s character.
Here you can see the Burčaci dulcimer band performing traditional Czech folk music in front of the village office. Musicians gather around the town to sing for the king time-honored songs about their homeland, traditions, and celebrations. While attending the festival, we found ourselves sharing the question asked by one song in particular: “The Slivovice or the Wine?”
An 11-13 year old boy is selected as king each year and rides through the village dressed up in a girl’s national costume and a rose in his mouth. It has been suggested that the costume refers to the flight of the Hungarian king Matthias Corvinus (an aspirant for the Bohemian crown) after a defeat in battle to the Bohemian king Jiří z Poděbrad in 1468.
Jiří’s struggles against the Catholic church and foreign invasion led him to seek an alliance of sovereign states that Czechs like to suggest was a precursor to the United Nations. His reign became celebrated during the National Revival so it is not too surprising that the legend of Matthias’ escape dressed in women’s clothes and the Ride of the Kings would become associated together.
One of the most entertaining aspects of the ride is that of the king’s guards, who entice, mock and encourage the crowd to make financial contributions to support the king.
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