Výlov krokodíla (‘Catching the Crocodile’) is a light-hearted summer event in Banská Belá that re-enacts an incident from 1962.
That night, several tipsy residents of Halča were on their way home from the pub in Banská Belá when, passing the tajch (a historic mining reservoir), they spotted a pine trunk floating on the water and took it for a crocodile. Today a historical procession of people in period costume makes its way from the square to Halčiansky tajch, where the crocodile, ‘released’ beforehand, is already afloat. The comic scenes staged during the ‘catch’ are sure to make you laugh. Once the ‘crocodile’ has been caught, there are various performances and a concert, followed in the evening by a party that goes on until morning.
