National Czech Festival, starting Friday in Wilber
WILBER – A southeast Nebraska town is getting set for its big celebration this weekend. The 63rd Annual Wilber Czech Festival begins Friday…with events packing the schedule through Sunday.
"Our theme this year is Together We Can...it just expresses all the volunteerism and the coming together of the community to put on the festival."
Randy Kozeal is the new President of the Nebraska Czechs of Wilber…which uses an army of volunteers and committees to make sure the celebration comes off smoothly each year.
"About fifty different committees...people share those committees and on those committees there's a total of somewhere between 300 and 320 volunteers that make it possible."
The Czech Festival features Saturday and Sunday parades, both at two p.m., and a National Miss Czech-Slovak queen pageant, that will crown a winner Sunday night among nine participants this year.
There are pre-celebration events and people start showing up early in the week, bringing their campers, or staking out a spot along the parade route.
Each year, a special celebration logo is painted on the street at the Hotel Wilber Beer Garden. "Kelly Gifford is the coordinator of that. She comes up with a new design every year. Some years it's connected to our theme...some years it's connected just to the Czech Heritage. One of the primary symbols is the heart."
The painting was done by Wilber-Clatonia Girl’s basketball players.
Kozell says if you haven’t been to the celebration before, there are opportunities to learn about Czech Heritage.
"Beginning at the stoplight with the Wilber Czech Museum, and then coming up the street, you have....the Culture Center will have demonstrations of authentic Czech cooking...and then the Hotel is on he Historic Register. The other thing is the Czech Dance."
Friday night will feature a children’s parade….lots of vendors will be offering food and drink along with area churches and businesses. There’s a carnival along Main Street….and throughout the weekend, there will be Czech Food, the Junior and Senior Czech dancers and polka bands.