When you walking on the December 5 evening in Prague's streets you surely will run into a group of strange characters: St. Nicholas, the Angel who represents Good, and the Devil, who represents Evil. All wear costumes. Nicholas looks a bit like Santa Claus, whose origin was supposedly inspired by St. Nicholas.

On May 1, couples gather around the statue of Karel Hynek Mácha, the Czech Romantic "poet of love", in Prague's Petřín Park where they lay flowers and spend a few moments.

On the evening of April 30th many Czechs gather to build a bonfire and prepare an effigy of the witch that kept winter around so long. Czechs used to believe that the power of witches would weaken as the weather got warmer.

The Czech St. Joseph's Day is a more subdued version of the Irish St. Patrick's Day and is celebrated around the same time in March every year.

The day of Hromnice is a significant day for Czech weather-related folklore. It falls on February 2nd, the same day the popular Groundhog Day is celebrated in the United States. And no wonder - both are based on the same ancient Celtic tradition.

The Christian feast of Christmas replaced the pre-Christian feast of the winter solstice. The celebration of Christmas was always associated with many non-religious customs of a magical nature: anyone who fasted on Christmas Eve saw a golden piglet.

The name of this period comes from the Latin word adventus, which means "arrival." It concerns the period of the arrival or birth of Jesus Christ, who is perceived as the Saviour or Messiah.

During mass on Easter Sunday, the priest blesses food that has been brought (lamb, rabbit, Easter cake, eggs, bread, and wine). This consecrated food is taken home again by housewives and ceremonially eaten by the family during a festive lunch.

The last week of the 40 days of Lent is called Passion Week, in memory of Christ's suffering. All the ceremonies in this week were of a mournful nature. The Passion of St. Mark was read on the Tuesday and the Passion of St. Luke was read on the Wednesday.

A three-day festival before Ash Wednesday, which begins the 40 days of Lent, which ends on Easter. Like Easter, this feast was movable - it could happen any time between February 1 and March 7.