Experience a traditional Czech pig-slaughter feast in Prague this weekend

While the practice of slaughtering a pig in the name of producing a smorgasbord of snout-to-tail delicacies  — plus something for the lean winter months — is said to be a disappearing folk custom thanks to EU regulation, many Czechs still see the pig slaughter as a special occasion.

Today the initial slaughter is commonly performed by a butcher with locals gathering to process enough blood sausages (jitrnice), blood soup (prdelačka), lard (škvarky), head cheese (tlačenka), and other products to make a meat lover salivate (or a vegetarian’s toes curl)

Here in Prague, you can participate in a number of pig slaughter festivities, with or without getting blood on your hands:

This Letná museum will be transformed into an old Bohemian slaughterhouse where visitors can not only taste the pig specialities but observe traditional butchering techniques and pork processing methods at 11am, 1pm, and 3pm. Slaughtering will take place in the museum yard while the main building will host a museum pub and tasting area.

The twelfth-annual edition of this popular annual zabijačka will also offer a workshop where participants can make sausage by hand and an accompanying program for kids with theater and arts and craft.

Master butcher and head chef of this popular microbrewery and bakery will preside over a festive all-you-can-eat (350 CZK) menu of sausages and goulash, which should perfectly pair with its tasty range of taps.

For those who want to hit the road in the name of combining pivo and pork, the courtyard of the legendary Plzeňský Prazdroj brewery in Plzeň will be serving up jitrnice, jelítka, tlačenky, and goulash alongside freshly brewed Pilsner Urquell.