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Boy and Girl Scouts brought a modern-day symbol of Christmas to the Czech Republic on Saturday in keeping with a tradition begun in the 1980s in neighbouring Austria, the Czech News Agency reported. The program was inaugurated in Austria in 1986 as part of a charitable relief mission for handicapped children and people in need. The light was transported to Brno using several lanterns and will again be spread throughout the Czech Republic over the course of the Christmas holidays, organisers confirmed. Members of the public brought their own lanterns to Brno's train station in order to light them from the flame.

American news broadcaster CNN has included Prague’s Christmas markets on a list of the 10 best in the world, citing traditional markets on the city’s Old Town and Wenceslas Squares. The article rated favourably Czech beer and sausage as well as the opening times at both markets, saying they remained open throughout the Christmas period. Other markets included in the piece included ones in Vienna, Venice or Copenhagen. The only North American Christmas market to make the list was Montreal’s.

Thousands of people gathered on Prague`s Old Town Square on Saturday evening to watch the lighting of the traditional Christmas tree. The 22-metre spruce was felled in the region of Hradec Králové and will adorn the historic square until January 6. The tree-lighting ceremony also launched the city`s annual Christmas markets.

Czech shopping centres and major retail chains are taking part this year in so-called Black Friday sales for the first time. One Prague shopping centre said 60 outlets were taking part by offering reductions of up to 50 percent on previous prices. Shopping centres outside Prague also say they will take part. Up till now it was mostly e-shops that signed up to the sales. Black Friday is an import from the United States and is regarded as the start of the pre-Christmas shopping season.

Last weekend we were wondering where to dump our Christmas tree when through the window we spied a sizable heap of discarded conifers on the square. Ours soon joined the pile, which I later saw pictured on Facebook with the caption “the concentrated spirit of Christmas”.

Between 2014 and 2018, the world is marking a centenary since the Great War swept across Europe and beyond. There is hardly a family in this country that didn’t have at least one of their male ancestors fighting on one or more of the fronts of the conflict. In this special programme, we look at the ways Czech soldiers in WW1 spent their Christmas in various places around Europe and the Far East. Using authentic documents: letters, journals and memoirs provided by the soldiers’ descendants to Czech Radio, the programme brings a testimony of the very

People in the Czech Republic made 42.7 million calls from their mobile phones on Christmas Eve, the Czech News Agency wrote on Friday, citing data released by mobile phone operators. It is about three percent less than last year, which saw a record of 44 million calls for one day. The number of text messages sent over Christmas Eve went down for the second consecutive year to 74.3 million, while the number of MMSes saw a record of 1.17 million.

Politicians were handing out free fish soup in the centre of Prague on Christmas Eve. Scores of people formed a long queue on the city's Old Town Square to receive the soup from Prague Mayor Adriana Krnáčová, dressed in a chef's apron, who was assisted by ANO Party leader and Finance Minister Andrej Babiš and other councilors. Some three thousand portions of the soup, which for many Czechs is the first course of Christmas dinner, were prepared this year. Several other districts of Prague, including Vršovice, also joined the tradition this year.

In this special Christmas programme on Radio Prague we are going to be looking at traditional Czech Christmas meals. Later on yours truly will be making his take on the classic Czech-style potato salad. But first, I am joined in the studio by Ladislav Provaan of the Gastronomy Museum, who is an expert in all things culinary.

Music is an essential part of the unique Christmas atmosphere. Along with the scent of frankincense and spices, fried carp on the Christmas Eve table, the candles, baubles and mistletoe – traditional music is what makes Czech Christmas complete. Besides Advent and Christmas church music, including the “Czech Christmas Mass” by Jakub Jan Ryba, the local Christmas musical heritage also abounds in folk songs and carols.