Saturday, May 4, 2024
The international jury of the European Capital of Christmas has decided unanimously to award Brno as the winner of the 2024 title, in the category of cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants.
The particularly high quality of Brno’s Christmas festivities and their relevance to the European Values of Christmas were two key factors that determined the Jury’s decision.
The European Capital of Christmas and European City of Christmas awards were established in 2017, with the patronage of the European Parliament. Since then, cities such as Liège (Belgium), Genoa (Italy), San Sebastián (Spain), Valkenburg (Netherlands) and most recently Kyiv (Ukraine) have been awarded.
This year’s international jury, which was headed by Danuta Hübner, a member of the European Parliament, had to evaluate a record number of participating cities.
The other award, in the category of cities under 100,000 inhabitants, was won by the Irish town of Waterford. The town of Almanza (Spain) also earned a special mention.
In the evaluation, the city of Brno was defined as “a creative Christmas gem, which gives a high appeal to the social and economic impacts on the urban structure”.
“I am glad that we managed to connect the modern concept of Advent markets with traditional values,” said the mayor of the Brno-střed district, Vojtěch Mencl. “At Zelny Trh, half of the sellers are craftspeople and bearers of folk traditions. We also dedicated a large space to parents with children, and provided stands for 60 charitable organisations in the squares.”
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NEWSLETTER
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