Tea festival for environmental education: The Svátek čaje

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Svátek čaje is a multicultural festival, which is held yearly since 2009 on the castle grounds in Cieszyn near the Polish-Czech border. This area offers unique atmosphere created by the historically significant buildings surrounding the castle hill. The organizers of the festival (come from both sides of the border and) are the civic associations Laja Foundation and Petrklic help z. s. The event promotes cultural diversity and creates a platform for meetings and exchanges between people from the tea production and trade.


The first edition of Svátek čaje in Cieszyn and Český Těšín was held from 12th to 13th June 2009. The event, which was originally intended as a technical meeting of owners of teahouses. Gradually it grew into a public event focused not only on the culture of drinking tea, but also on traveling and learning about music and customs of foreign nations. The event took place in the courtyard of Castle Hill on the Czech-Polish border, in Laja tearoom on Polish side and in Dobrá Čajovna in Český Těšín. Visitors could enjoy book readings and lectures from places such as India, Turkey or Tibet, they could attend workshops for shaping bonsai, yoga and tai-chi, drumming, juggling and many others. The stage hosted local bands - Karviná All Ska bear and Ostrava Café Industrial,but also artists representing different cultures from around the world. Aside from Japanese theater Kyogen Shakuhachi, performance lead by Czech musician and musicologist Vlastislav Matousek, numerous visitors listened to a concert of excellent instrumentalists, one of the best Czech players of the Indian sitar - George Mazanka. Organizers invited the ensemble Marimba Trio Band, who arrived after a series of charity concerts in Kenya. The festival fulfilled its main mission - with help from voluntary donations, entrance fees and a charity auction, it managed to collect over 50,000 crowns, the equivalent of half of the price for building health clinics in Nepal, a project prepared by the Dolpo Association.

Over the years, the festival has become a true oasis for all those in love not just with tea and its culture, but also with a passion for music and travel - in short, all those who seek self-development, enjoy exploring the unknown and revel in sharing it with others. Visitors can enjoy a wide variety of tea tastings prepared by tea masters from the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia, workshops, concerts and travelers’ meetings, which are lead by some of the most passionate people. 

In 2017, the participants of the EU project "Inclusion is Fusion" could support the festival with environmental workshops during their second project meeting. The most significant moments were the implementation of the "Living Library" as well as workshops on natural cosmetics with Italian procucts. The participation of the youth workers and their active involvement in the festival proved that a festival is an educational approach of high level to reach the local community sustainably.
 Living Library - Inviting for chats with human books
Talking with the "Living Library"-books
Improvisational theatre about social inclusion 

Workshop "Natural Cosmetics"

With an open heart we say that we hope to see you in Cieszyn in 2018!

Written by "Fundacja Laja"

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