Festival of Birds was written at Schönenberg, Switzerland, probably on March 19, 1959, on suggestion by Jan Trojan, who sent Bohuslav Martinů the original text for this composition. It had its first performance in Brno on 12 April 1960, sung by the Brno Children‘s Choir conducted by František Lýsek. Jan Slabák played the trumpet. The text of the composition is the first half of an old Czech poem from the Třeboň Manuscript of the second half of the 15th century, which is normally given under its initial words, "V Strachotině hájku" (In the Strachotin grove). The name of the composition "Ptačí hody" (Festival of Birds) is based on the end of the first verse.
Zdeněk Zouhar, Bohuslav Martinů: Písničky pro dětský sbor, Ptačí hody, Prague: Panton, 2nd revised edition, 1995.