Independence Day celebrations in Czechia mark country’s 108th birthday
October 28th is Czechoslovak Independence Day, marking the establishment of Czechoslovakia in 1918. Czechs will commemorate the 108th anniversary of the birth of the Czechoslovak Republic with a host of events, including a ceremony at the Vítkov Memorial, remembrance events for the country’s first president Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk and an award giving ceremony at Prague Castle.
The celebrations of Czechoslovak Independence Day traditionally start with a commemorative ceremony at the Vítkov Memorial in Prague attended by the president, government officials, parliament representatives, church dignitaries and cultural figures who lay wreaths at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier to pay homage to those who laid down their lives for the country.
In the course of the day, Czechs around the country remember Czechoslovakia’s first president T.G. Masaryk. Official wreath-laying ceremonies take place at Masaryk’s graveside in Lány and his statue on Prague's Hradčany Square, but people also make their way to the hundreds of busts, statues, monuments and plaques dedicated to Czechoslovakia’s co-founder in towns and villages around Czechia to lay flowers and light candles.
A ceremonial change-of-guard at Prague Castle at midday traditionally attracts a crowd of onlookers. Meanwhile, inside Prague Castle President Pavel will appoint new army generals.
The celebrations will culminate with an award-giving ceremony in the Vladislav Hall of Prague Castle, during which President Pavel will hand out awards and high state distinctions to people from all walks of life for outstanding services to the state. The list of laureates is not made public in advance.
The Prague Symphony Orchestra FOK traditionally marks Czechoslovak Independence Day with a concert featuring Smetana’s cycle of symphonic poems My Country (Má vlast). The concert takes place every year on October 28 in the Smetana Hall of the Municipal House where Czechoslovak independence was declared in 1918.
My Homeland is a cycle of six symphonic poems composed between 1874 and 1879 by the Czech composer Bedřich Smetana. Each poem is a celebration of Bohemia –its beautiful nature, history, or legends.
Several institutions in Czechia will traditionally mark the national holiday by opening their normally inaccessible premises to the public, among them the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate as well as the Office of the Government and the Municipal House in Prague.
Czechs continue to mark Czechoslovak Independence Day despite the fact that the Czechoslovak federation ceased to exist in 1993. Slovakia celebrates Slovakia Foundation Day on January 1, in reference to the split of Czechoslovakia finalized on December 31, 1992.
