TCHCC Heritage Festival Has It All!
Click here to connect to Muziky Facebook event 6 pm Saturday!
The Texas Czech Heritage and Cultural Center in La Grange will host the annual Heritage Festival & Muziky on October 17, 2020. The Fest will be altered to a one-day event for 2020 only. The Fest kicks off at 10 am with heritage & culture in the Czech Village, an early 1900s recreated village complete with residential houses, barns, and stores. Demonstrations of early life for the immigrants will take place throughout the grounds all day, including working in the saw mill, the operation of the Czech Newspaper Museum press and engine, blacksmithing, corn shelling and grinding, hay pressing, and more. Plenty of food and cold beverages will be available as well.
An antique farm equipment show sponsored by the South Texas Wheel Spinners & Crank Twisters Club and an antique/classic car show, sponsored by H&H Automotive and by Lad Trojacek - Farmers Insurance, will spread throughout the village. Visit the country store and Gift Shop for some good buys. The Janak Barn & Texas Czech Agricultural Museum displays farm practices and implements from the late 1800s up to 1940. Children activities will also be available to keep those youngsters occupied. SPJST will host a fish pond and an Ax Throwing event and the Leo’s Club will have a train ride.
The Czech Village houses two music museums. The Czech Music Museum of Texas, located in the Kalich House, features four genres of Czech music – classical, folk, polka, and liturgical. The Polka Lover’s Club of Texas Museum, located in the Hoelsher House & Huebner Center, features a display of Texas polka bands, as well as memorabilia and photos of the Polka Lover’s Club of America, Texas Chapter.
Inside the TCHCC Main Center, stop by the Czech Gift Shop to browse the brand-new stock of authentic Czech items, T-shirts, caps, crystal, periodicals, music CDs, and new Christmas decorations for 2020. Enjoy the current exhibits in the Main Center Museum: A Festival of Music exhibit and other rotational exhibits.
Have you always wondered about your Czech roots? The spacious Melnar Library, the largest Czech genealogy library in the US, will offer help with genealogy and other research. In the evening, kick back in your favorite lawn chair for the SPJST Octoberfest on the Deck with music by the Dujka Brothers from 6 - 9:30 pm. The music will be live and the public is welcomed to attend. We will also broadcast LIVE on Facebook on the TCHCC Facebook page! Mark and John Dujka have been making music together for over 30 years and have several acknowledgements, including being inducted into the Polka Hall of Fame at the KC Hall in Hallettsville, and receiving a Favorite Song Award from the International Polka Association for their recording of Church Picnic Polka. The song is featured on their latest CD, Let’s Have a Party, which celebrates the duo’s 30th anniversary.
The HEB Fireworks Finale will close out the Fest at 9:30 (weather pending). Plenty to do for the entire family at the Texas Czech Heritage & Cultural Center in La Grange! If you’re not kin when you get here, you will be when you leave!