Name of Event: “Vynášení Morany” [Disposing of Morana] (Morana/Mařena/Mařana = female personification of Winter)
Location: Prague
Date: fifth Sunday of the Lent Period (also designated as “Deathly Sunday”), typically the end of March
Description: Disposing of Morana is a revival of a Slavic folk-tradition of discarding the personification of Winter on the verge of Spring. Traditionally, a construction resembling a (crowned) female figure representing Winter and its hardships was fashioned, paraded through town, accompanied by music and dance and subsequentially burnt and thrown into a body of water. In 2013, the organisers decided to reenact this tradition to mark the end of the second presidential term of Václav Klaus with Morana bearing Klaus’s image as a political statement. Since 2019, the organizers decided to reestablish this event in its folk-form, even though the whole event is still strongly politicised especially through lyrics of the accompanying songs. In 2020, after the celebration was delayed until May by the unexpected Covid 19 restrictions, the organizers created a Morana/Corona figurine to mark the easing of the quarantine measures in Czechia.
Links:
Facebook event
Facebook video