Regardless of whether you cross the border of the Czech Republic from the West, South, North or East, you enter different regions of folklore traditions. It has become popular to look at works of art, historical artefacts picture galleries sculptures and handcraft products as well as
classical music theatre and ballet in silence and free of any external disturbances. Likewise, it has become popular to watch also the folklore performed on stage.
There is the platform separating us from the stage. However, in Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia, you can become a part of the spectacle. The residues of folklore traditions have remained so deeply rooted that people continue pursuing them on their own impulse both for themselves and their guests. The only decision for you is to pick the right region at the right time, since folklore has been alive in the Czech Republic and its position in the European context is unique.
You have to leave the motorways and the main roads and to enter village centres. You have to be lucky to pick the right time and place when the village lives its unique life.
The live experience of the spontaneous folklore performance a part of which the spectator can easily become, is the key to understanding folklore creativity. An overall view of folklore art can be seen at folk festivals and other events and is well documented in numerous folklore museums. The best musical and singing productions are available on the records of the outstanding follclore groups. These groups have a long-standing tradition in the renowned Czech, Moravian and Silesian folk history. However, folklore should be enjoyed as a complex of music, songs and graceful choreography, with open mind and in eye-to-eye contact with the performers.
Situated in the south-western Bohemian Forest region of the Czech Republic at the rail junction Prague / Furth, this was known in the 11th and 12th centuries as the City of the "choden" (border patrolmen).
Industries: furniture, textiles, machine-building, agriculture. since 1993 on the way to becoming the location of the first cooperation model 'Eyewear production and ancillary industries'.
Chodsko - This area in West Bohemia historically consists of 11 villages which had once been granted royal privileges from King John of Luxembourg to guard the border between Bohemia and Bavaria. Chodsko as an ethnographic area covers all of the Domazlice region. It is marked by folk costumes which, in comparison with other Czech lands, have succeeded in preserving their unique character. Traditional characteristics of the region are partially evident in folk architecture, ceramics, the rich songs of the area (including the use of archaic forms of musical instruments, such as bagpipes), and in the Chodsko spoken dialect. The Chodsko Festival is held every August in Domazlice.