Building a Community through the Roztoky Masopust

By Leah Gaffen

Almost thirty years ago, Mirek and I met a wonderful woman (in a balloon, of all places) who was a theatre-maker and puppeteer who had recently moved to Roztoky, a town just outside of Prague. Full of energy and creativity, and the mother of four young children, Jitka Tichá invited us to come to an event she was organizing to get to know her new community - Masopust.

Masopust is the Czech equivalent of Mardi Gras - a celebration of eating, drinking and merriment at the end of winter. It literally means meat + fast, and while it has links to the final hurrah before Lent, its origins go back farther - to pagan rituals and, before that, the Bacchanalia.

Like most grass roots community celebrations, Masopust was discouraged in Communist Czechoslovakia, but some local officials allowed villages to continue the tradition as long as it stayed small and contained. The Hlinsko Masopust has been going since the mid-19th century and is now on the UNESCO list of intangible culture heritage, known for closely maintaining all of the costumes and details of the centuries-old folk tradition. 

When Jitka came up with her idea, few people - certainly in Prague - had personal experience with Masopust. Unlike in Hlinsko, her concept was inspired by tradition but not limited to it. Her priorities were community, creativity and artistry.

She brought together locals and other friends, organizing informal gatherings to make giant puppets and masks. They created their own interpretations of the traditional Masopust characters: Bacchus, Death, Fast, and of course a Horse that symbolizes winter and who is sacrificed at the end of the ceremony in a ritual execution (and with the help of the rooster, comes back to life so the cycle can continue).

What started as a small gathering to bring together new friends in the Roztoky community and Jitka’s friends from Prague (including many artists, musicians, both professionals and amateurs) has, 29 years later, turned into an extraordinarily popular winter event. Thousands of people take the short train ride from Prague to be part of the annual Roztoky Masopust. It’s regularly featured on national TV, and has inspired many other communities to organize Masopust celebrations. 

Despite the crowds and its popularity, the Roztoky Masopust still primarily a community event. Local volunteers start planning months in advance, coming together to create new masks, huge puppets, hand-made decorations, costumes, masks, cakes, soup, and to organize sausage and beer stands… Roztoky youth learn to walk on stilts so they can wear the masks of the death characters. Others from the local choir prepare songs. Almost all of the preparations are done by hundreds of volunteers, often parents with their kids.

International artists have also gotten involved. In 2013, Andrew Kim, founder of UK-based Thingumajig Puppet Company and known for his magical lantern puppets, came to Roztoky and made this rooster with locals at a workshop:

One of the specialities of the Roztoky Masopust is the crowning of the Queen. Each year, organizers choose someone who has contributed to the community (it is always a queen, but the gender is flexible). The Queen chooses a theme which inspires the decorations, costumes, and speeches of that year’s Masopust. This year the theme was brooms - sweeping out the bad, sweeping in the clean and good - as the current Queen has been a long-term member of the “broom dancers” who lead the Queen’s procession. The former Queens (known as Emeritus Queens) have a special place of honor at the ceremony. 

The community around Masopust in Roztoky- called Roztoc - now runs dozens of activities: visual and performing arts classes for people of all ages, an annual summer festival, a puppet festival, summer camps for children. “Masopust is really a community event. We make things together, and we decide what to make every year. We create, we make something new, and this time together brings us joy and the possibility to relax, to slow down, and to escape modern problems” said one neighbor in a recent Humans of Prague documentary about the tradition.

Because the Masopust got so big, the locals decided to create a smaller parade that takes place a few weeks before the giant festival. For some of the founders, that is the event they prefer - something really local, as was the original idea. But others, especially the next generation that is now taking on most of the leadership, seem to celebrate sharing this unique, magical event with the outside world.

Jitka was an Emeritus Queen until three years ago, when she died very suddenly and unexpectedly. Her children and their families, now among the organizers of Masopust, planted a linden tree in her honor on a hill overlooking the town. Her spirit is tangible. During Masopust, we all sense her looking upon us as we celebrate the creativity, the friendship, the joy that she brought so many years ago to so many people through the Roztoky Masopust. 

Find out more and see hundreds of photos of past Masopusts on the Roztoky Association,website.

The organizers are currently putting together a book that will come out next year and celebrate 30 years of the tradition.