Čarodějnice in the Czech Republic: a family-friendly bonfire festival

Every year in the Czech Republic, late April brings dozens of bonfires to life. People gather in parks and clearings, set straw witches alight, grill sausages, and celebrate well into the night. It isn’t a show or Halloween—it’s čarodějnice, which in Czech means witches.

The mood is bright, family-friendly, and far from scary, whatever the name might suggest.

The witch is just an effigy

No one burns a real witch. It’s a simple figure of straw and old clothes, standing in for winter—the season everyone is ready to see off. The flames are understood to burn away the gloom of the cold months and open the way for spring.

The festival is called pálení čarodějnic, literally the burning of the witches. Thankfully, it has nothing to do with real witches or hunts.

Why late April?

The timing is no accident. It’s the eve of May Day festivities, and in some European countries the evening is known as Walpurgis Night. People once believed witches gathered then, and fires would keep evil at bay. In the Czech lands, that old tale blended with local folk habits, and the result is a vivid spring celebration.

Today it signals one thing: winter is behind, and warmth is welcome.

How do Czechs celebrate?

The modern čarodějnice feels like a bonfire night with friends, only livelier and larger. Families arrive together, bring food, roast sausages (špekáčky) over open flames, and set up mini-concerts, games, and parties. Children craft their own effigies, dress up as witches, and take part in contests.

In big cities like Prague, it turns into full-on festivals with music, stages, and fireworks. Yet in villages the spirit is just as warm—literally and figuratively—and the evening often feels less like ritual and more like a neighborhood reunion.

Is it an ancient rite?

People often call it an ancient tradition, but there’s no firm evidence that burning the witch is a very old farewell-to-winter rite. It seems more like a mix of old European tales, everyday customs, and a simple fondness for fire and spring.

Some compare čarodějnice to Russia’s Maslenitsa, where an effigy is burned to say goodbye to winter. The Czech twist is that the figure is a witch, not the Maslenitsa doll.

The tradition has a future

In recent years, the celebration has only grown more popular—especially in cities, where people want to step away from routine and gather by the fire, simply to be together. The focus isn’t the witch, but the warmth: flames in the dark, neighbors side by side, laughter, the smell of smoke, and a quiet feeling that good days lie ahead.

The Czech way of burning the witch isn’t about darkness or fear; it’s about spring, warmth, and joy. It marks the moment winter steps aside and something new arrives. And although the witch goes up in flames, what remains are memories—clear and lively as tongues of fire on a spring night.