UPDATED: May 18, 2025, with photos of the second day of the festival, including the Miss Czech-Slovak Iowa pageant; kolache demonstration, cabbage roll contest, kolache eating contest and more.
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — Winds that whipped through the Houby Days festival in Czech Village didn’t dampen the spirits of participants.
Gusts of up to 40 mph kept crowds at bay for the morning parade on May 17, 2025, but gave way to a milder afternoon.
The 47th annual Houby Days honors the memory of Marj Nejdl, a Master Czech Folk Artist who died March 10, and was an integral part of the festival since its inception, designing buttons and more.
More: Czech Houby Days festival dedicated to Marj Nejdl
Family members of Marj Nejdl ride in a car during the Houby Days Parade on May 17, 2025. (photo/Cindy Hadish)
Hosted by the Czech Village Association, the festival celebrates houby, the Czech word for mushrooms, with sales of morel mushrooms, mushroom-themed parade entries and Nejdl’s morel designs on T-shirts, booklets and buttons.
Houby Days continues from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, May 18, along 16th Avenue SW in historic Czech Village, with the Iowa Accordion Club at the Kosek Bandstand at 11 a.m., the Cedar County Cobras at 1 p.m. and the Svetlusky Dancers at 2:30 p.m.
The Miss Czech-Slovak Iowa pageant takes place at the Kosek Bandstand at noon Sunday, featuring current queen Isabel Sherman in an on-stage interview, kroj modeling and talent.
Kolaches, a beloved Czech pastry, will be featured Sunday during a demonstration at the National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library at 12:30 p.m. and a kolache-eating contest at 1 p.m. at the Vintage Market stage, and will be sold at the Health Hut, 83 16th Ave. SW, Sweet Mercantile, 98 16th Ave. SW, and elsewhere during the festival.
Morel mushrooms are sold during the 2025 Houby Days festival in Czech Village. (photo/Cindy Hadish)
Tours of St. Wenceslaus Church, 1224 Fifth St. SE, which celebrated its 150th anniversary last year, will be open to the public from noon-2 p.m.
In addition to the parade, featuring Grand Marshal Ashley Pudil Osborn, Saturday’s activities included the crowning of the Czech Heritage Foundation’s Royal Court, performances by Barefoot Becky and other musicians, Chalk the Walk, craft demonstrations inside the museum, street vendors and inflatables for children.
Visiting Czech royalty from Nebraska, Oklahoma, Minnesota and Wisconsin, including Aspen Hein, Miss Czech-Slovak US 2024-2025 First Runner-Up, also participated.
See photos from last year’s Houby Days and more from the 2025 festival, below:
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Great pictures
Thank you, Mike!
Thank you for so many pictures of this fun weekend. Maybe the wind Saturday was the last of the Frozen Kings leaving, so we can enjoy spring. We will miss Marj and her talent which helped us preserve our Czech heritage. Thank you to the Czech Village Association for this festival.
Thank you for your message, Pat!
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