CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — The annual Houby Days celebration in Czech Village managed to dodge most of the weekend’s thunderstorms, with crowds enjoying summer-like weather.
Highlights of the 48th annual festival, held May 16-17, 2026, included a parade, morel mushroom contest, chalkfest, live entertainment, car show, folk dancers and more in the historic Czech Village.
Houby, the Czech word for mushrooms, take center stage during the celebration, alongside kolaches, a beloved Czech fruit-filled pastry.
One of the main kolache sources for generations, Sykora Bakery, opened as a new bar and restaurant during the festival.
Read more: New bar opens in former Sykora Bakery
Miss Czech-Slovak US first runnerup, Isabel Sherman, right, crowns Lexi Timmerman as Miss Czech-Slovak Iowa during Houby Days on May 17, 2026. (photo/Cindy Hadish)
On Sunday, Lexi Timmerman, 19, of Decorah, was crowned Miss Czech-Slovak Iowa during a pageant at the National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library.
The daughter of Ryan and Tasha Timmerman, she is studying exercise science at Luther College in Decorah.
Visiting Czech queens from eight states participated in Saturday’s parade and other events throughout the festival, including welcoming church-goers to Sunday Mass at St. Wenceslaus Church, a Czech national parish.
Czech princesses, a Czech prince, and Little Brothers and Sisters also were crowned during a ceremony Saturday for the Czech Heritage Foundation’s Royal Court.
The Czech Village Association, which hosts Houby Days, sold morel mushrooms for $60/pound or $35 for a half pound during the festival.
Morel mushrooms are sold during Houby Days in Czech Village. (photo/Cindy Hadish)
Festival-goers squared off in kolache-eating contests, a “cabbage roll” obstacle course, kolache baking and a morel mushroom contest.
The sponge-like delicacies, which pop up in the spring, won awards for smallest — a microscopic size — most unusual, largest and most creative display. Mushroom expert Kimberli Maloy served as judge alongside Preston Moore, at Lion Bridge Brewing.
Tom Havran, who lives near Amana, won a prize for largest morel for one measured at 8 inches long, as well as the most creative display, in which he paired morels with a variety of other mushrooms.
Seven-year-old Nevaeh Pike swept the other two categories, with a tiny morel growing out of a pine cone taking top prize for most unusual.
“Dad used to take me out,” Nevaeh’s mother, Brandi Pike said, for her inspiration in taking her daughter mushroom hunting starting as a toddler. “She’s closer to the ground, so she can find them better.”
Live entertainment for Houby Days included local bands, along with Karička, a music and dance ensemble from California, and the St. Paul Czech and Slovak Folk Dancers of Minnesota.
This was the first year for the Houby Days kolache baking contest, with four entrants baking a variety of flavors.
See photos from last year’s Houby Days and more from Houby Days 2026, below:
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