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Harvest Festival "Dožínky 2006" in Veliki and Mali Zdenci
The largest and most significant cultural event of Czech people living in Croatia, the Harvest Festival "Dožínky", took place on July 22 and 23, 2006. The event was organized by Croatian Czech Union and Czech Beseda Veliki and Mali Zdenci and sponsored by Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Croatia. Members of all 26 Czech Besedas participated in the Festival (over a thousand participants in total), along with their guests: Agria brass band from Kaplice, Czech Republic; song and dance ensemble Hlubina from Ostrava, Czech Republic; culture and art society Dr. Franjo Tuđman from Grubišno Polje, Croatia; and Slovak Society from Međurić, Croatia.
Three exhibitions opened on July 22 at 6 PM, depicting the life of Czech people in Croatia: Exhibition of documents, photographs and crafts, exhibition of Czech artists from Croatia (18 participants) and exhibition entitled "From our grandmothers' kitchens" where one could not only see but also taste more than 150 kinds of pastry and sweets prepared using recipes of the first Czech immigrants in Croatia. The harvest brochure "Dožínky 2006 – Velké a Malé Zdence" was also presented at these exhibitions.
An all-evening folklore program followed the exhibitions, featuring dancers, singers and musicians of the host Beseda – ensemble "Vodička" from Veliki and Mali Zdenci, dance group "Ribice" from Rijeka, married couples dance company from Končanica, dance group "Holubička" from Daruvar, folklore group "CIK" from Grubišno Polje and song and dance ensemble "Hlubina" from Ostrava, Czech Republic.
Harvest Festival continued on Sunday, July 23, with the Harvest parade – a traditional happening with the highest number of participants and spectators of all Harvest Festival events that traditionally brings together friends, associates and relatives. At the front of the parade, lead by brass band from Czech Kaplica, there were traditional harvest festival symbols: flags, harvest garland, "baba" ("the grandmother" – the last bundle of grain from this year's harvest), bread and salt (symbols of hospitality) and a master's carriage. Pictorial wagons followed the band, depicting all the phases of getting and making bread – from plowing and sowing to baking in traditional bread furnace. At the end of parade, all Czech minority groups presented themselves, dressed in traditional Czech costumes. Each group wanted to show the beauty of costumes they lovingly and carefully prepared and completed for this occasion. All groups were accompanied either by a brass band or another music band, they were dancing, singing and playing music, and everybody – participants and spectators – was in a festive, joyous mood.
The Harvest Festival ended with a folklore show on the soccer stadium, featuring folklore dance groups from 18 Czech Besedas and guests. At the beginning, after introductions given by distinguished guests from Croatia and the Czech Republic, the dance group of the host Beseda "Vodička" from Zdenci performed a harvest scene in which they handed the representative of the sponsor the harvest garland and offered the guests traditional bread and salt. Performances of all other dance groups followed. As ever, the most impressive were the group performances of all dance groups at the beginning and at the end of the program. The great green field flourished with the beauty and colors of traditional costumes, came to life in a swirl of dance and sound of Czech traditional songs, and tears of joy shined in many eyes. Many Czech people from Croatia as well as their guests from the Czech Republic will keep this scene in their hearts forever, or at least until the next year's Harvest Festival.
Czech Beseda Rijeka at "Dožínky"
Members of the Czech Beseda Rijeka cheerfully and diligently prepared for the appearance at the Harvest Festival. As a part of the Saturday evening program, dance group "Ribice" performed two new dances ("Drbny" and "Fidli Polka") they rehearsed with Prague choreographer Eva Zetova. They also danced the beloved "Wild Kača" dance. For the "From our grandmothers' kitchens" exhibition, members of Czech Beseda Rijeka baked several kinds of pastry and cakes. At the Sunday harvest parade, members of dance group "Ribice" and married couples group marched to the sounds of Czech music. As a part of the folklore show on the stadium on Sunday, the "Ribice" participated in the first and the last group dance, and gave a perfect solo performance of the difficult and long dance "Formani."
