The Christmas holiday season starts on St. Nicholas Day. This is the day when the whole family joins together to make  special Christmas candies and sweets - Vanocni Cukrovi.  St. Nicholas Day is also the day for friends who had quarreled to make up and be friends again.

A Christmas tree is smuggled into the house and hidden away. The tree is decorated by the head of the family. A small nativity and gifts are placed under the tree. And no one is allowed to see the tree until after dinner: when the Baby Jesus - Jezisek - has been  and left his presents for the children.  

When dinner is over, the family all get up from the table at the same time and wish each other a Joyous Christmas Stastne a Vesele Vanoce. Then they embrace and rush to the tree to open their gifts. The rest of the evening is spent quietly until it's time for Midnight Mass.

After returning home, Some children will sleep on a bed of straw on the floor, this  allows them to take part in  Jesus' poor and humble birth.

Christmas dinner, in the Czech Republic, usually consists of soup with noodles, roast goose with dumplings and kraut. For pudding there is braided coffee cake, kolace, fruit, nuts and coffee. After dinner games are played. One of the favourites is the placing of tiny-lit candles into nutshells and floating them in a tub or water; the player whose candle burns the longest is the winner.