22.04.2025
The May Day celebration, which is organised annually by the Thomas Bata Foundation in the garden of the Bata Villa, will offer a number of unusual experiences for both children and adults. This time, the organisers have joined forces with Zlín athletes, bet on quality gastronomy and will also commemorate important Bata anniversaries.
"Every year we try to push the May Day celebration forward and surprise with something. I am glad that this year will be no different. The entire garden at the Bata Villa will resemble a cosy festival area and will be dominated by sports zones occupied by representatives of selected Zlín sports clubs," says Jakub Malovaný, Project Manager of the Thomas Bata Foundation, who further added that visitors of all ages will be able to test their skills with popular hockey players from the RI OKNA Berani Zlín club, coaches from the Sad Gym boxing club, youngsters playing under the banner of the Handball Club Zlín or even bicycle polo players from the Zlín club.
The garden of the house where the famous entrepreneur Tomas Bata lived together with his family will also be full of cheerful colours and a plenty of now iconic inflatable toys by the world-famous designer and innovator Libuše Niklová, which have made many generations happy and are still manufactured in the Fatra company in Napajedla.
"The connection of the Bata May Day celebration with Fatra is of course not accidental. The Fatra company belonged to the Bata production group, not to mention the fact that this year we are commemorating 90 years since its foundation," explains Jakub Malovaný.
At this point, you may be wondering why Bata started producing toys. The answer is not too complicated. "Tomas Bata was an advocate of the view that whatever is brought into the factory - he meant the material - should be fully utilised. It was no different when processing rubber. Therefore, what was not used to make tyres was processed in other ways, for example into toys," explains Gabriela Končičíková, Director of the Thomas Bata Foundation, and reminds that another important Bata anniversary will be commemorated, namely this year's 100th anniversary of the founding of the Bata School of Work. The thematic exhibition Hlásím se k Baťovi (“I support the ideas of Bata") by Tomáš Pavlíček will be on display in the Bata Villa.
"We want to draw attention to the value principles that were transmitted in these schools and their importance for the present. The aim of the Bata School of Work, a special school for boys and later for girls aged 14-18, was to educate young people to become self-confident and purposeful personalities who know their value and personal responsibility, first of all towards themselves and then towards society," adds Gabriela Končitíková.
However, the May Day celebration, which was first organised by Tomas Bata in 1924, will offer much more. There will be all kinds of creative workshops, a truly rich gastronomic zone made up exclusively of local suppliers, a leading domestic magician Ondřej Sládek, pupils of the Otrokovice Primary Art School and the band Event Jazz.
The event starts on 1 May at 9 a.m., the official opening with the participation of members of the Bata family will take place at 10 a.m. and the garden gates will close after 1 p.m.
The partners of the traditional May Day celebration are the Statutory City of Zlín and the companies Fatra, Vitar, Bata and Oxalis.
