Why does Czechia have two days of love?
Láska, Valentýn a proč na ní záleží
A2 Czech listening practice · Standard Czech · Picked for people who know a little
Czechia has two competing days of love. Valentýn (February 14) is the imported Valentine’s Day, popular with younger Czechs and shops since the 1990s. The older, distinctly Czech tradition is první máj (“the first of May”): on May 1st, Czech couples gather under blossoming cherry trees and share a kiss, said to bring health and happiness for the year. The custom traces back to Karel Hynek Mácha’s 1836 poem Máj.
This clip is a Valentine’s Day TV interview about love. The interviewer asks why love matters, and the answer leans on lines that echo Máj. Younger Czechs celebrate both holidays now, but the Mácha tradition still carries the deeper cultural weight.
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Source: OpenSubtitles 2024 + FineWeb-2 (MorphoDiTa lemmas) (general) · OpenSubtitles 2018 (HermitDave) (spoken). These numbers are close, not perfect.
- ▸In Czech literature class and Mácha bicentennial events (1810-2010)
- ▸At Petřín Hill in Prague on May 1st (annual Mácha pilgrimage)
- ▸In Czech romantic poetry and song lyrics (Karel Kryl, Jaromír Nohavica)
- ▸In Czech wedding-toast and Valentine’s-card content
- ▸In Czech tourism content about Prague spring and cherry blossoms