Slovaks and Christmas Traditions

The Mystique of a Slovak Bazaar

The word "bazaar" has its roots in Asia, and comes to us from the narrow streets of the Orient. The concept of the bazaar, which evolved in a totally different environment, was foreign to North America; and exotic. In Turkey and other Arab states, the bazaar is a narrow street crammed to overflowing with a vast selection of goods for sale. Within those narrow confines are small shops filled with decadent goods, with buyers and sellers exchanging merchandise that cannot be purchased anywhere else. Only the very best goods are selected to be offered in these exclusive and abundantly stocked shops.

Selling of sweet and candies for children of all ages ... ... sausages.

For us, "bazaar" is a bewitching word, with an image that haunts us long after the event is over. It stays on our minds and in our hearts. We relive the memories of the last bazaar we hosted (or attended). We review it, vowing to make the next one different, better, bigger or more elaborate. In the not-too-distant past, bazaars were not well known and so did not fear competition from specialty shops – but those were different times. Still, the Christmas bazaar has a mystique all its own, and differs greatly from the traditional, common bazaar.

The Christmas bazaar is very special. We love it because it’s a sure sign that Christmas is just around the corner. That gets us talking about homemade "klobasy" (sausages), smoked meats, "jaternice" (rice sausages), smoked bacon and other specialty meats. We also begin to plan the kind of baked goods we will offer, decide how many more kilograms of soup noodles need to be made by the Ladies’ Guild and what kind of homemade donuts and meals will be served on the day of the bazaar.

Continued on Next Page

Click here to visit the photo reportage of the 1997 Toronto bazaars.

... with very special thanks to Vierka Petkovsky for final editing.
All contents to this article © 1997, Ladislav Kozak, Ondro Mihal.
All comments should be forwarded
to Ondro Mihal at omihal@slovak.com.
Last update on December 21, 1997.