Charles Bridge Egg Festival cracks open a hard-boiled Prague legend

Did you know that eggs were used to help make Prague's Charles Bridge? Once thought to be the stuff of myth, recent research into the original mortar used in the construction of the bridge in the 14th century found milk proteins, suggesting that the legend may actually be true.

As the story goes, villages surrounding Prague were called on to bring eggs to the city center to be mixed in with the mortar used to make the bridge. The village of Velvary, however, brought hard-boiled eggs to ensure their safety in transport... inadvertently rendering them useless for adding to the mixture.

Residents of Velvary, near Kladno on the outskirts of Prague, were ridiculed for their mistake. But they've now come to embrace their hard-boiled legacy. Since 2015, they return to Charles Bridge annually with baskets, carts, and horse-drawn carriages full of hard-boiled eggs during Vajíčkobraní (roughly translated as "Egg Festival").

This year, the Egg Festival on Charles Bridge will take place on Sunday, March 24, and will include both the procession of eggs across the bridge and accompanying egg-themed events at the nearby Charles Bridge Museum.

The egg procession will be led by Velvary Mayor Radim Volák, and will include a horse-drawn carriage pulling a cart full of eggs accompanied by squires and a period-accurate medieval band.

"On the way, they will be joined by other pilgrims from surrounding villages, and they will finally meet at 1 p.m. in Prague at the Malá Strana Bridge Towers, from where they will cross Charles Bridge to Křižovnické náměstí," Zdeněk Bergman from the Charles Bridge Museum states in a press release.

"They will then ceremonially hand over, together with the Governor of the Central Bohemian Region, Petra Pecková, a hard-boiled egg for the Mayor of Prague 1, Terezia Radoměršká and the Charles Bridge Museum."

From 2 p.m., the procession will transition to the Charles Bridge Museum, which will launch an exhibition called Easter Story. Attendees can savor egg specialties and Velvary egg brandy in the museum's baroque café.

If you can't make it to the Egg Festival celebration on Sunday, the Easter Story exhibition will be open to the public through April 30. Visitors will be able to explore a collection of Czech artifacts, predominantly from the Šumava region, showcasing local Easter traditions and folk culture.