Brno’s Fašank Revelry

15 February 2018, 8:00
Brno’s Fašank Revelry

With Ash Wednesday, which this year fell on 14/2, ended for us the period of revelry linked to it – parades, feasts and other forms of entertainment. The four-week period of Lent has begun, culminating in the celebration of Easter. The last few days before Ash Wednesday are the time of masopust, fašank, vostatek and končiny. These are all Czech local names for traditional processions and costumed celebrations. The festivities have a very long tradition of celebrating the solstice, predating Christianity and reaching far back into antiquity. They take place in various forms throughout Europe. In South Moravia there are several places where the folk tradition of the celebration of fašank has become famous thanks to its specific form. The best known of these is the village of Strání, where for the whole weekend until Tuesday’s burial of basses a Festival of Masopust Traditions takes place.

fasank_2018_brno_foto_maru_hvozdecka_02

Brno’s citizens do not miss out on these celebrations. As has already happened several times it was organised by the Slovácko ensemble Šafrán. Brno’s fašank took place, as it is meant to by custom, on Tuesday. From 4 p.m. on Náměstí Svobody there were performances from the folk ensembles including Brněnský Valášek, Krojovaná skupina z Komína, Lučina, Májek, Slovácký krúžek z Brna, the Slovácko ensemble Šafrán, VUS Ondráš, and Tereza Škrháková and the Hudecká skupina z Komína. The ensembles paraded around the city and made several stops, as is customary in folk precessions, for example at the Old City Hall or the Palace of Noble Ladies where the Ethnographic Museum is based. At each stop they performed something from their masopust programme. There was also a sabre dance and ‘leading the bear’. Viewers can even find the original costumes of Jew, bear, straw-man or a granny with a basket. After their performances they were rewarded with small refreshments, also in the spirit of the traditional event.

fasank_2018_brno_foto_maru_hvozdecka_03

Even in the environment of the city centre Brno’s fašank maintains its folk spirit. This is mainly thanks to the appropriate choice of participants and a typical friendly atmosphere, which is an indubitable part of this tradition.

fasank_2018_brno_foto_maru_hvozdecka_04

fasank_2018_brno_foto_maru_hvozdecka_05

fasank_2018_brno_foto_maru_hvozdecka_06

fasank_2018_brno_foto_maru_hvozdecka_07

Marie Hvozdecká Photo

Comments

Reply

No comment added yet..

The international Concentus Moraviae music festival, which sees world-class performers and leading figures in the world of artistic music flock to more than twenty towns in Moravia and Lower Austria every year, kicked off its 30th anniversary on Saturday 31 May at Porta Coeli in Předklášteří. It was an evening of polyphony from the turn of the 14th and 15th centuries performed by the Graindelavoix ensemble under the direction of conductor, writer, filmmaker and anthropologist Björn Schmelzer.  more

Every year during Holy Week, the Easter Festival of Sacred Music prepares the Tenebrae - chants of lamentations and responsories performed in the dark on the eve of the feast. After ensemble performances of Zelenka's and Gesualdo's chants, Ensemble Versus have decided to present a choral repertoire of Czech origin for this year's edition. Another change is that the Tenebrae have moved from the church setting to Brno's three underground water reservoirs at Žlutý Kopec, which each evening will host three concerts lasting about forty minutes. Viewers can choose the hour that suits them best. This review looks at the first of the Tenebrae held on Holy Wednesday, 16 April, in reservoir no. 2.  more

Yesterday's opening concert of the 32nd Easter Festival of Sacred Music, held in the newly renovated Church of St. James, offered more than an hour of contemplation with the St. John Passion by the contemporary Estonian composer and this year's jubilarian, Arvo Pärt (*1935). The work was performed by the vocal ensemble Martinů Voices with artistic director Lukáš Vasilek, soloists Jiří BrücklerOndřej HolubAlena HellerováJana KuželováOndřej Benek and Martin Kalivoda, accompanied by a chamber ensemble: Daniela Valtová Kosinová (organ), Pavla Tesařová (violin), Lukáš Pospíšil (cello), Vladislav Borovka (oboe), Martin Petrák (bassoon).  more

The Ondráš Military Artistic Ensemble took a dance across the peaks and valleys of the Carpathian Arch in the première of their new show Through the Carpathians. The new show by the professional part of the ensemble took place on the stage of the Radost Theatre in Brno. And it was truly a joy to watch this new venture. It sees the ensemble leave the spectacular choreography behind for a while and return to its original folk roots without giving up on any of its own expressive style.  more

The spring concert by the Diversa Quartet offered works by purely Czech composers for the first time in a long time. The event, held on the evening of Monday, 7 April at the Villa Löw-Beer, was subtitled Tempus est iocundum after a love song from the Carmina Burana manuscript. It was the song's exuberance that inspired the dramaturgy of the concert, which was accompanied by an ensemble made up of Barbara Tolarová (1st violin), Jan Bělohlávek (2nd violin), David Křivský (viola) and Iva Wiesnerová (cello).  more