We are lining up.
We are lining up.
Other events during this celebration of Old World traditions include: a Czech mass at Saint John Nepomuk Catholic Church, traditional foods, such as kolache and klobasy are served, a Czech Queen pageant, and folk musicians and dancers wearing traditional Czech dress perform.
This is one of the other troops getting ready for parade kick off.
During Yukon's 75th anniversary back in 1965, the mayor wanted to celebrate with a citywide event. It was decided to hold a Czech festival and two Czech-style lodges volunteered to sponsor the affair.
The parade theme this year was the circus.
Women of Czechoslovakian ethnicity baked kolache (Czech pastries) and stored them in freezers until the festival on October 15, which coincided with the St. Havel Festival in Czechoslovakia. Maria Fiala, who baked 600 dozen kolache, was designated Kolache Queen. A parade with fifty floats was viewed by 10,000 people.
And away we go!
Souvenirs, including dolls in traditional dresses and embroidered tea towels, were created by Czech-Americans and sold along Main Street. Yukon High School art students painted the windows of businesses on Main Street with Czech designs.
Here is our fearless leader.
This first festival was so successful that Oklahoma-Czechs made it an annual event. Since then crowds of up to 55,000 people attend the Oklahoma Czech festival—the largest free festival in the state.
This homepage was last updated December 2002
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