Czech-Slovak Fest 2005

I started going to the annual Czech-Slovak festival at the historical Bohemian Hall and Beer Garden in 1999 because it was fun and convenient (I lived in Queens at the time) -- and because I was seeing a guy of Czech origin. Now I go to Czech fest as a sort of tradition, even though it's no longer convenient (I moved from Queens to Brooklyn last year) and the Czech guy has been out of the picture for years. Now it's an hour's ride on the subway, but it's completely worth it. Besides, I usually don't spend less than eight hours there anyway.

Last year, when I could totter home drunkenly only a few blocks away, I stayed from 2 until 10. This year, my assumption was that I'd stay for a much shorter time since I now live farther away. But instead, I stayed from 2 until about 1 a.m. Those of us who'd been there for hours and hours drinking pitchers of really good imported beer were lured by the unthinkable: the Czech disco that started inside around 10 p.m. Thank God there weren't millions of people dancing, because I think those of us who were left lost all coordination and wound up dancing into people rather than just dancing among them. At least, I speak for myself. The "disco" music was pretty bad; Douglas said it brought him right back to the five years he'd lived in Eastern Europe. By the time Madonna's "Holiday" came on for the second time, we were jolted back to reality and looked at each other incredulously as if we'd just awoken from a drug-induced stupor filled with poor decision-making, and we abruptly decamped.

But that's a digression about how fun the day was as a whole. The day could not have been more temperate and sunny, and, unlike last year, all the performers seemed to show up. So not only was there synchronized gymnastics and a brass band, but multiple troupes of folk dancers, and the infamous "hat dance."

There's been good luck in the raffle department these days with a few of us, but nevertheless I was surprised to hear my name called out in a thick Czech accent when I won a gift certificate for dinner & drinks for two. I guess it was time -- after all, it was my sixth year. Weirdly, Alison K. won a nearly identical prize -- odd only because there were hundreds of people there and only about a dozen or so prizes.

Czech-speaking Jenny, who couldn't attend, told me that if you say "dickweed" to Czech speakers, they'll think you're making a good-faith effort to say "thank you." I didn't try this, but if any others of you did, please tell me how it went.

Czech out why the day so rocked: Karl, Alison K., Alison B., Josh R., Josh D., Andy, Corrina, Izzy, Al, Kathy, Brooke, Ben, Amy, Harry, Cassandra, Raj, Sara, Amy Fee, Douglas, Elizabeth, Robert, and of course, the blimp. Not to mention the others.



Photos!


Da Sokol Gymnastics















Pilsner Brass Band





Hat dance



Hat dance





Mushroom sandwich







Pitcher in one hand, glass in the other




















Thanks to Karl for sending these pictures: