The Easter holiday in Lukavec near Fulnek in the Nový Jičín region is marked by a unique tradition called the ride around the Sown Field. Only the residents of this village in the Czech Republic have kept this tradition alive for 400 years, while a similar tradition is also observed by the Lusatian Serbs in Germany.
More than 20 riders set out on their horses around the local cemetery at one o’clock on Sunday afternoon, riding around the church and singing the spiritual song “He Has Risen from the Dead” from the 15th century. The ride continued throughout the village to announce the resurrection of Jesus Christ and ask for blessings for the fields. However, for the first time in the ride’s history this year, people did not kiss the cross.
Epidemic intervened
“We have slightly modified the tradition due to the COVID-19 epidemic. People no longer kiss the cross for hygienic reasons. Otherwise, everything remains the same,” said Václav David, who organizes the event listed on the intangible heritage list of the Moravian-Silesian Region.
But even during the epidemic, when strict anti-epidemic measures were in place in 2020, they managed to carry the ride around the sown field. “We left secretly early in the morning with only four riders. We didn’t tell anyone. It was about preserving the tradition,” David said. He started riding in 1967 when he was 17 years old.
The ride around the sown field lasts over three hours, with riders of all ages participating. Married men wear colorful ribbons on their horses, while unmarried men wear white ones.
“The tradition was not interrupted by the coronavirus, the Nazis, or the Communists. We only didn’t ride once when three-quarters of a meter of snow fell. A few times we got freezing, like in 2012,” recalled the man who led the ride as the so-called Krojcfotr.
Two rides used to take place in the past
Ostrava-Opava bishop František Václav Lobkowicz rode with them twice. Once, he even helped extinguish a fire during the ride. Therrideed to be two rides in Lukavec, a local part of Fulnek.
The ride around the downfield lasts over three hours, with riders of all ages participating. Married men wear colorful ribbons on their horses, while unmarried men wear white ones.
“In the morning, married men set out, and in the afternoon, unmarried men joined them. Now, we do it together. Married riders are marked with colored ribbons, unmarried ones with white ones,” explained David, who wants to organize the ride until he can no longer ride a horse.
“I am already training my successor. The young people are interested, but not all know how to ride horses, so they need to learn first,” said the organizer, the oldest rider this year. The youngest rider was 17 years old.